Thursday's early afternoon trade: Amazon buy hits health stocks, banks gain

US stocks swung between gains and losses on Thursday, as Amazon's foray into drug retailing whipped the healthcare sector, while a rise in financial stocks for the first time in 14 days cushioned the markets. Amazon.com said it would buy online pharmacy PillPack, a move that will put the online retail giant in direct competition with drugstore chains, drug distributors and pharmacy benefit managers.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, already under pressure after its third-quarter earnings report, tumbled 9.4 percent and along with UnitedHealth's 1.8 percent drop pressured the Dow Jones index. Shares of CVS Health sank 6.6 percent, Rite Aid fell 10.9 percent and Express Scripts was down 1.7 percent.
The S&P health sector dropped 0.31 percent, while Amazon gained 1.8 percent. "Sentiment towards trade has become very negative," said Tom Essaye, founder of investment research firm Sevens Report.
"But if we start to get a better rhetoric on trade, this market is primed to rebound because economic activity remains positive." At 12:54 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21.24 points, or 0.09 percent, at 24,138.83, the S&P 500 was up 5.02 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,704.65 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 18.34 points, or 0.25 percent, at 7,463.43.
Amazon's burgeoning reach was not limited to just the health sector. Its plans to entice entrepreneurs to set up their own package-delivery businesses sent shares of United Parcel Service and FedEx skidding more than 2 percent. Starbucks dropped 4.1 percent after the company said its Chief Financial Officer Scott Maw will retire at the end of November.