Investing.com - Pharmaceutical and biotech stocks led the top gainers in midday trading, while trade war worries dented Chinese stocks trading on Wall Street.
Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) gained about 3.2% at 11:55 AM ET (15:55 GMT).
The company announced yesterday that it saw positive clinical study results with a medical therapy to treat a leaky heart valve.
Biotech Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN) soared about 234% after announcing its cholesterol treatment met the endpoint goal for reducing risk.
And ABIOMED (NASDAQ:ABMD) rose about 6% after it said its approved treatment Impella boosted mean survival 24% in acute myocardial infarction cardiogenic shock.
Trade war concerns escalated after U.S. duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods and Chinese tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. products went into effect.
China cancelled mid-level trade talks with the U.S. as well as a proposed visit to Washington by Vice Premier Liu He, which had been scheduled for this week, saying the U.S. was acting like a bully.
“The door for trade talks is always open, but negotiations must be held in an environment of mutual respect,” state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Negotiations “cannot be carried out under the threat of tariffs.”
That hit Chinese stocks trading in the U.S., with Qutoutiao (NASDAQ:QTT) the biggest loser, falling about 10%.
Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS) lost about 8%, Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI) fell about 3.3% and NIO (NYSE:NIO) retreated about 6.3%.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) fell about 1.5%.