Health Care sector roundup — 2026-10-21
Health Care was the top performer among the 11 S&P 500 sectors on Tuesday, returning 2.51% compared to a 0.34% gain for the broader index.
Health Care was the top performer among the 11 S&P 500 sectors on Tuesday¹, returning 2.51%² compared to a 0.34% gain for the broader index³.
The move was broad-based, with 92.3% of the sector's stocks rising⁴. A typical stock in the group returned 1.94%⁵. Gains were supported by the sector's largest companies: Eli Lilly & Co. rose 3.49%⁶, AbbVie Inc. climbed 2.26%⁷, and Johnson & Johnson added 2.19%⁸. The strongest individual performers included Moderna⁹ up 6.69%, 3M¹⁰ up 5.78%, and Charles River Laboratories¹¹ up 5.14%. This strength was mirrored across industries, specifically in biological products, which saw a median return of 3.29%¹², and hospital and medical service plans at 2.99%¹³. A few outliers moved against the trend, notably DaVita Inc., which fell 6.23%¹⁴.
This session extends a period of outperformance against the S&P 500. Over the last month, Health Care has outperformed the index by 7.15 percentage points¹⁵, and it remains 9.01 percentage points ahead over a three-month window¹⁶. Longer-term returns for the sector stand at 15.3% year-to-date¹⁷ and 25.4% over the last 12 months¹⁸.
Educational tool. Not investment advice. This article was produced with automated assistance. It was reviewed before publishing.