Health-care companies were more or less flat as traders rotated back into risky corners of the market.
The iShares Biotech Index, the riskiest quadrant of the health-care sector rose to an all-time high.
Shares of companies such as UnitedHealth Group, which are more evergreen and defensive in nature, retreated.
Ipsen said it agreed to buy Kartos Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $1.75 billion as the French drugmaker tries to beef up its oncology pipeline.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
