Sector Update: Healthcare

12:58 PM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks declined Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index down 0.7% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) falling 1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.6%. In corporate news, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said Wednesday it plans to separate its Nutrition business into an independent, publicly traded company with about $8.5 billion in annual sales. Separately, Abbott reported Q3 adjusted EPS Wednesday of $1.42, up from $1.30 a year earlier and matching the FactSet consensus. Abbott shares were down 3.9%.