- Health and pharma stocks were the worst performing sector on Friday, amidst a broader market that was mixed with traders buying into growth stocks and shedding defensive sectors including Health Care, Utilities and Consumer Staples.
- The S&P 500 Health Care sector was down 2.05% , while its accompanying SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF ( NYSEARCA: XLV ) had declined by 2% .
- The sector and its accompanying ETF gained more than 9% in October, but so far both have shown weakness in November.
- Insurance giant UnitedHealth ( UNH ) and drugmakers Merck ( MRK ), Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) and Amgen ( AMGN ) were the top percentage losers on the blue-chip Dow ( DJI ).
- MRK was down 3.9%, JNJ had shed 3.6% and AMGN was lower by 3%.
- Other drugmakers such as Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) retreated 6.2% and 4.9%, respectively. Bucking the trend, Pfizer ( PFE ) shed only 0.4%.
- Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen ( ABC ), Cardinal Health ( CAH ) and McKesson ( MCK ) fell 2.6%-4.9%.
- UNH led a host of health insurers lower on above-average volumes. Managed care organizations have posted a notable outperformance this year.
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Healthcare stocks fall across the board as traders move out of defensive sectors