Thursday, September 11, 2014

US STOCKS-Wall St falls, biotech stocks weaker

By Ryan Vlastelica



NEW YORK, Sept 11 Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:48pm EDT





<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were lower on Thursday, with biotechnology shares among the weakest of the day as investors continued to take profits.



<span id="midArticle_1"/> The day's losses were spurred by data on jobless claims, which unexpectedly rose in the second discouraging read on the labor market within a week. The report, along with Friday's bearish payroll report, have given investors few reasons to keep buying with indexes near records.



<span id="midArticle_2"/> The S&P 500 is on track for its sixth decline in the past eight sessions, though it remains less than 1 percent from a recent record close.



<span id="midArticle_3"/> The high-flying biotech group was among the weakest of the day, down 1.3 percent. Celgene Corp was the biggest decliner on the S&P 500, off 3 percent at $91.28, while Vertex Pharmaceuticals was down 2.3 percent at $92.60.



<span id="midArticle_4"/> Biotechs are a frequent target for profit-taking, as many investors view the group - which largely trades on future growth prospects and such volatile elements as drug pipeline progress - as overvalued.



<span id="midArticle_5"/> Despite that, Morgan Stanley on Thursday affirmed its "overweight" rating on healthcare stocks, a sector that includes biotech, writing that the sector's valuation "isn't an impediment, particularly when compared to its defensive peers on price-to-forward earnings."



<span id="midArticle_6"/> The Dow Jones industrial average was falling 48.49 points, or 0.28 percent, to 17,020.22, the S&P 500 was losing 4.95 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,990.74 and the Nasdaq Composite was dropping 22.41 points, or 0.49 percent, to 4,564.12.



<span id="midArticle_7"/> The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange was Nuverra Environmental Solutions Inc, rising 12.01 percent, while the largest percentage decliner was Brady Corp , down 9.57 percent.



<span id="midArticle_8"/> Among the most active stocks on the NYSE were Bank of America, up 0.72 percent to $16.48; Spring Corp, up 4.96 percent to $6.46; and AK Steel Holding, up 2.15 percent to $9.28.



<span id="midArticle_9"/> On the Nasdaq, Apple Inc, down 1.0 percent to $99.96; Lululemon Athletica, up 15.3 percent to $44.28; and JDS Uniphase, up 10.2 percent to $13.34 were among the most actively traded.



<span id="midArticle_10"/> Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,634 to 1,376, for a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,553 issues were falling and 1,112 advancing for a 1.40-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.



<span id="midArticle_11"/> The broad S&P 500 index was posting 13 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 49 new highs and 36 new lows. (Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)



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