'Don't Panic' Over Biotech Pullback, Especially After Last Week's Rally, Says Strategist

This week's biotech pullback was largely a matter of giving up gains from last week's Federal Reserve rally.
By Scott Gamm ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- This week's biotech pullback was largely a matter of giving up gains from last week's Federal Reserve rally.

"I view [the biotech selloff] as some amount of a giveback on the extremely strong rally last week," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Financial Services Group. "My advice is not to overreact. People don't complain about violent moves upward."

Last week, the Federal Open Market Committee removed the "patience" language from its statement, but said a rate hike at its April meeting is "unlikely." While a rate hike would signal that the economy is ready to stand on its own two feet, central bank intervention has propped up markets in recent years. The S&P 500 rose 2.7% last week.

Though on Thursday, investors shifted focus back to the Fed, now speculating the central bank will raise rates, even with the falling markets in the backdrop. But rate liftoff decisions, as the Fed has long indicated, are driven by economic data, not daily market fluctuations or tantrums.

Meanwhile, the biotech space has had a great run. The Nasdaq Biotechnology index is up 12% for the year to date, compared to the S&P 500's 0.35% decline. Before this week's malaise, the index was ahead 20.7%, as of March 20.

"I don't think the party is over in the biotech space, but it may be getting late in the evening," Stone said. "These stocks are not cheap anymore."

Stone remains positive on the markets going forward and is overweight in sectors like financials, which he says will benefit from the Fed's looming policy shift, and health care. "Though I suspect we'll move to some cyclical names, as those are on our radar."

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