Major stock indexes were lower as congressional Democrats and Republicans haggled over the next coronavirus economic recovery package, and investors braced another round of disappointing earnings.
The S&P 500 was down 0.1% at 3,236.26 during midday trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 26,478.61.
The Nasdaq dropped 0.3% to 10,507.92.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond fell 2.8% to 0.592%.
The price of gold increased 0.6% to $1,943.30.
The price for a barrel of oil fell 1.3% to $41.08.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Axonics Modulation Technologies Inc (Nasdaq: AXNX), the maker of devices to treat bladder and bowel disorders, rose 5.2% to $43.20 per share for a market cap of $1.7 billion. The company said yesterday a 2-year study showed patients implanted with its Artisan r-SNM system “receive clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in urinary urgency incontinence symptoms and quality of life.”
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Montrose Environmental Group Inc. (NYSE: MEG) fell 4.5% to $20.78 per share for a market cap of $435 million. The share price has been retreating somewhat after the air quality and environmental services company jumped out of the gates on Wall Street last week with its stock soaring 47% to a valuation approaching half a billion dollars.