Shares Fall as Health-Care Sector Loses Ground -- Update

By Riva Gold 

Stocks and the dollar mostly drifted lower, with market attention focused on the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole meeting, set to start later Thursday.

Chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to give a speech on Friday, and while little direction on interest rates is expected, investors will be watching for any clues on the course of monetary policy or her assessment of the U.S. economy ahead of September's FOMC meeting.

Futures pointed to a 0.2% opening loss for the S&P 500, following modest declines in Europe and Asia.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 1.1% late morning. Health-care shares fell after political pressure to tamp down drug prices pushed biotechnology stocks lower in the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had issued a statement calling EpiPen price increases "outrageous," sparking a modest selloff Wednesday on Wall Street.

Shares of Shire PLC were down 4.1%, while Novartis AG was down 2% and Roche Holding was off 1.8%.

Adding to the downbeat tone in Europe, Germany's Ifo index, a key indicator of the economy, fell sharply in August, disappointing expectations for a slight increase. Germany's DAX index shed 1.3%.

Trading in Asia was mostly softer. Shares in Shanghai were down 0.6%, even as China's central bank put more cash into the system through 14-day reverse repurchase agreements, which are effectively loans to commercial banks.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.4% following recent declines in commodities prices.

Brent crude oil was down 0.2% at $48.94 a barrel, dropping for three of the past four sessions. Gold was flat at $1,329 an ounce.

Shen Hong contributed to this article.

Write to Riva Gold at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2016 05:36 ET (09:36 GMT)

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