Advertisement
Several healthcare companies made solid gains. Merck rose 2.3% after announcing a supply agreement with the U.S. and Canada for a potential COVID-19 treatment. AbbVie gained 1.5% after announcing a collaboration with Caraway Therapeutics to make treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 7.71 points to 4,219.55. The Dow lost 152.68 points to 34,447.14, while the Nasdaq gave up an early gain, shedding 13.16 points to 13,911.75. The tech-heavy index was lifted by the same Big Tech companies that have pushed it generally higher for the last 18 months. Microsoft rose 0.4% and Amazon added 0.5%.
Small company stocks, which have outgained the broader market this year, also fell. The Russell 2000 index gave up 16.63 points, or 0.7%, to 2,327.13.
By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writers
A slide in banks and industrial companies nudged stocks on Wall Street to modest losses Wednesday after an early gain faded in the last half-hour of trading. Stocks championed by hordes of online retail investors, the âmemeâ stocks as they have become known, were volatile once again.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, erasing its meager gain from a day earlier. The benchmark index s modest moves this week have it on track for its first weekly loss in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.4%, while the Nasdaq held up somewhat better, ending down just 0.1%.
The collaboration agreement will see the development and commercialization of the target, TMEM175 involved in Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.