Biotech indexes fall after RFK Jr. nomination, Fed’s signals on rate cut

Biotech investors’ skittish reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS, combined with a signal that the Fed may slow-walk upcoming rate cuts, sent sector indexes down in a slide that began Thursday afternoon and continued across Friday’s session.

Biopharmas were among the worst performers as markets broadly trended down on Friday. Indexes specific to biotech underperformed the NASDAQ Composite, which was off 2.2%; the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) sank 5.3% and the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (NBI) fell 4.4%...