Midday Report: Biogen Weighs on Health Care Stocks; U.S. Markets Fall

Stocks give back earlier gains as a selloff in health care overshadows the Federal Reserve's decision a day earlier to raise interest rates.

Author:: Keris Alison Lahiff
Publish date:: Mar 16, 2017 11:51 AM EDT

Stocks gave back earlier gains as a selloff in health care overshadowed the Federal Reserve's decision a day earlier to raise interest rates. Wall Street had rallied on Wednesday after the Fed hiked rates for the third time since 2008. Biogen (BIIB) - Get Report led health care losses after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating to EQUAL WEIGHT from OVERWEIGHT. Analysts said they see limited upside for the stock in the near term. Williams-Sonoma (WSM) - Get Report rose after reporting better-than-expected profit in its fourth quarter. The retailer said the holiday shopping season had been one of its best. Its board also approved a 5% increase to its dividend. Dollar General (DG) - Get Report bested earnings estimates and reported a healthy increase in same-store sales. The discount retailer also bumped up its dividend by a penny.