* Fed signals two more rate hikes this year * Feb. housing starts rise more than expected * Biogen falls on downgrade; top drag on S&P * Dow down 0.03 pct, S&P down 0.11 pct, Nasdaq up 0.02 pct (Adds details, comments, updates prices) By Yashaswini Swamynathan March 16 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday asdeclines in the healthcare sector outweighed gains in financialstocks. Biogen was the biggest drag on the health sector,after downgrades by Morgan Stanley and Leerink triggered a 5.1percent decline in the stock. The S&P 500 healthcare index fell 0.95 percent, thebiggest drop among the six other sectors that were in the red. Financial stocks were the biggest gainers, helped bybetter-than-expected data on the housing sector in February anda dip in weekly unemployment benefit numbers. The Fed raised rates by a quarter point to 0.75-1.00 percenton Wednesday, responding to continued strength in the labormarket and a pick up in inflation. However, the central bank stuck to its outlook for two morerate hikes this year and three in 2018. “We saw some dramatic moves yesterday, so anything that wastied to the reflation trade got a bit pressured,” said MarcelleDaher, senior managing director, asset allocation at ManulifeAsset Management in Boston, Massachusetts. “There is certainly the element of profit taking today.” At 10:56 a.m. ET (1456 GMT), the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage was down 6.94 points, or 0.03 percent, at20,943.16, the S&P 500 was down 2.61 points, or 0.11percent, at 2,382.65 and the Nasdaq Composite was up0.97 points, or 0.02 percent, at 5,901.02. Shares of Tesla rose 2.8 percent to $262.94 afterthe electric carmaker said it would raise about $1.15 billion asthe company speeds up the launch of its Model 3 sedan. Oracle surged to a record high of $46.99 and wasthe top stock on the S&P after the business software makerissued a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,629to 1,166. On the Nasdaq, 1,658 issues rose and 957 fell. The S&P 500 index showed 49 new 52-week highs and no newlows, while the Nasdaq recorded 128 new highs and 35 new lows. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing byAnil D’Silva & Shri Navaratnam)
December 19, 2024
