US stocks were lower on Wednesday, with indexes on track for a second straight day of declines after a recent rally, with healthcare stocks the only bright spot after a US Supreme Court hearing. The S&P 500 healthcare index rose 0.31 percent as investors bet that the Supreme Court may lean toward the Obama administration's view on the Affordable Care Act after it heard a second major challenge to the law.
"I think that hearing assuaged fears - at least for now - that we were headed for overturning of Obamacare," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. The sector's top gainers were HCA Holdings, Tenet Healthcare and Universal Health Services. At 12:19 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 86.37 points, or 0.47 percent, to 18,117, the S&P 500 lost 8.43 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,099.35 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 8.99 points, or 0.18 percent, to 4,970.92.
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