Yahoo Finance Trending tickers: CVS | Informa | Gold
CVS Healthcare Corp. (CVS)
CVS was among the health and health insurance stocks that sank overnight in the US as investors digested news that pent up demand for medical procedures, delayed due to the pandemic, has led to a backlog in people accessing services.
At the close CVS was down 7.8% and UnitedHealth (UNH) had sunk 6.4%.
The selloff was sparked by Tim Noel, CEO of the UnitedHealth's Medicare and retirement business, saying a backlog had been caused mainly by seniors who are finally undertaking elective procedures such as knee or hip surgeries.
We're seeing that more seniors are just more comfortable accessing services for things that they might have pushed off a bit like knees and hips," Noel told Reuters.
Read more: LIVE - FTSE and European stocks cautious ahead of ECB decision
Informa (INF.L)
FTSE 100 constituent Informa's stock was up 3.4% in early trade in London as it reported revenues would outstrip levels seen pre-COVID.
This is due to growth across operations following the end of lockdowns, including for key markets in China, the company said in a trading update.
The publishing group added it was likely to exceed its original revenue projection for the year by 7% to between £2.95bn ($3.74bn) and £3.05bn and raised adjusted operating profit guidance by a tenth.
"Our strong underlying performance and good forward visibility on both volumes and value gives us confidence in a strong outcome in 2023 and continuing momentum into 2024," it said.
Read more: Interest rates set to rise as pay growth jumps
Gold (GC=F)
News coming out of the US Federal reserve knocked gold off its stride, as it fell to a two-week low.
Fed chair Jerome Powell said last night that the committee had called off support for a further interest rate rise this time around, but would look to implement two more rate rises in the coming months.
The asset, which is usually a safe haven for investors, fell to $1945.30 per ounce in early European trade on Thursday, falling 1.2%.
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