Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Fall Thursday Afternoon
Healthcare stocks declined Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index decreasing 0.7% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) shedding 1.1%.The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) fell 2.7%.In corporate news, Merck's (MRK) strong momentum continues, driven by better-than-expected cancer vaccine data, but valuation now fully reflects the upside, RBC Capital Markets said in a note. RBC downgraded Merck to sector perform from outperform, and raised its price target to $150 from $142. Merck shares were down 0.5%.Abbott Laboratories (ABT) signed a multiyear collaboration deal with Avricore Health's HealthTab unit for the supply and distribution of its point-of-care testing products through the HealthTab platform in the UK, Avricore Health said. Abbott shares were down 0.1%.OSR Health (OSRH) shares were down past 25%, a day after the company said it received a notice from Nasdaq that its shares would be delisted from the stock exchange on Aug. 26 for failing to regain compliance with the minimum $1 bid price requirement.
