Health care sector gains while utilities drop in rough day for S&P 500

Not only did the Dow Jones Industrial Average slip by 0.4%, closing the day at 15,900.82, but the S&P 500 also dropped by 0.4%, finishing the day at 1,781.37.

Much of this was surely do to the fact that the Fed has suggested that due to improving market conditions, the central bank will likely taper its $85 billion bond repurchase plan in the near future. All of this is just talk, of course, and nothing is set in stone, but cautious investors surely took note of the development, and it showed.

Therefore, out of the S&P 500 industry groups, only the health care sector managed to gain any ground. Standouts included Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), which gained 2% on Nasdaq, while Pfizer Inc. (PFE) gained 0.8% on the New York Stock Exchange. Fellow NYSE stocks such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, up 0.3%) and Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK, up 0.1%) were on the rise, while Nasdaq stock Amgen, Inc. (AMGN, up 0.1%) also gained.

Meanwhile, the utilities sector lost 1.1%, with several stocks dropping by over 1% on the day. They included Dominion Resources, Inc. (D) and The Southern Company (SO), which were both down 1.6%. Duke Energy Corp (DUK) dropped by 1.5%, while NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) fell by 1.2%. Exelon Corporation (EXC) did not fall nearly as much, but still slid by 0.4% on the day.