Stock Market Update
19-Aug-26 14:55 ET
Health care sustains lead
Dow +101.11
at 53444.51,
Nasdaq +52.37
at 26363.11,
S&P +24.60
at 7716.36
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.3%) continues hanging onto a modest gain with support from seven sectors.
The market finds itself essentially where it was before this afternoon's release of the FOMC Minutes from the July meeting. Unsurprisingly, the Minutes showed that many policymakers believe that a rate hike will likely be needed if inflation does not ease. However, inflation has eased a touch since the July meeting, so this acknowledgement has had little impact on the market today.
Health care (+3.6%) has set the pace throughout the day, thanks to a surge in Moderna (MRNA 154.80, +91.84, +145.87%) after the company released positive trial results from an mRNA treatment for melanoma. The news has invited increased interest in the biotech group as a whole, sending the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI 167.93, +7.82, +4.88%) toward its record high from early 2021 (174.79).
