Stocks of hospital companies rose sharply and insurance companies fell Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld a requirement that almost all Americans carry health insurance.
A Delaware judge has given Google Inc. until April 9 to give a pension fund investors company documents involving what authorities said was the illegal online marketing of prescription drugs to U.S. consumers by Canadian pharmacies.
WellPoint Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings sank 39 percent as medical claims soared thanks to a $50 million hit from the health insurer's Medicare Advantage business, but the company forecast earnings growth in 2012.
Signs of growth in the U.S. economy combined with an unexpected interest rate cut in Europe to send the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 100 points for the second day in a row.
Stock indexes rose Wednesday after a steep two-day drop as international leaders scrambled to save a week-old plan to prevent a financial crisis in Europe. Strong corporate earnings and a bump up in hiring by private companies also helped turn markets around.
A wave of selling swept Wall Street and stock markets around the world Tuesday after the prime minister of Greece said he would let its people vote on an unpopular European plan to rescue the Greek economy.
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with higher profit and revenue in the third quarter, the last before generic competition starts wiping out sales of Lipitor, the cholesterol blockbuster that has buoyed the company for years.