Medicine Before The Fed
Markets are up slightly on the day of the Federal
Reserve’s FOMC meeting on interest rate policy, but medical stocks are
outperforming the broad market ahead of a widely expected 25-basis-point
interest rate cut.
The Dow is up 53 to 10,373, the Nasdaq is up 9.50 to
1891.03, and the S&P 500 is up 7.77 to 1179.20.
If the Fed cuts rates by one-quarter percent to 3.5%,
it will be the sixth time the Fed has cut rates this year (from 6.5%) in an
effort to re-stimulate an economy drifting perceptibly close to
recession.
Stocks in the medical area are performing well in the
minutes prior the the Fed’s scheduled announcement on monetary policy.
Immunex
(
IMNX |
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result for its drug against a skin disorder.
Guidant
(
GDT |
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distribute a heart stint.
And Enzon
(
ENZN |
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recording its first profitable year ever, in large part due to sales of a
drug used to treat hepatitis C.
In the big caps, International Paper
(
IP |
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Morris
(
MO |
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(
ORCL |
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(
QCOM |
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more than 2%.
Elsewhere in the market, biotechs
(
BTK |
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securities broker dealers
(
XBD |
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(
CEX |
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sectors. Retail
(
RLX |
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(
XAL |
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(
TRX |
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lagging sectors.