Healthcare stocks, on balance, had a great start to the week today. Cancer companies in particular posted strong gains almost across the board Monday. For instance, the stock of Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: CLVS) ended the day up by 15.2%, shares of Immunomedics (NASDAQ: IMMU) hit a high of 10.2% before ultimately closing up by 8.5%, and Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ: PBYI) printed a 16.3% gain today.
The odd part to this rising-tide phenomenon is that none of these companies issued a single press release or market-moving Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. Instead, this sea of green appears to be the result of institutional investors fleeing weaker parts of the market like oil in favor of safe havens like healthcare. Cancer stocks, after all, should be essentially immune to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, given that most patients can't skip out on lifesaving treatments.
Image Source: Getty Images.