Healthcare, banks pull indexes down

Healthcare companies and banks drove U.S. stocks lower Thursday, pulling major indexes below their recent highs.

The slide, which erased gains from earlier in the day, came on news that some Republican senators’ support for the GOP’s proposed tax overhaul bill was faltering.

Small-company stocks, which would be among the biggest beneficiaries of the bill’s reduction of corporate income tax rates, declined more than the rest of the market.

The losses outweighed gains by retailers, which got a boost from a government report showing that retail sales jumped in November.

Still, the major U.S. indexes are on track to finish the week with a gain.

Stocks rose early Thursday after the Commerce Department said sales at retailers and restaurants jumped 0.8% last month. Sales in a category that mostly includes online shopping leaped 2.5%, and sales at electronics stores rose 2.1%. Furniture store sales increased 1.2%.

The report helped lift several retailers. Mattel climbed 4.2% to $16.24. Tiffany & Co. advanced 3.4% to $99.34.

Healthcare stocks accounted for much of the market’s losses. Medical care company DaVita fell 3.2% to $69.03.

Shares in several financial companies declined. Navient fell 2.5% to $12.62.

Pier 1 Imports slumped 29.5% to $4.12 after the home decor company cut its forecasts and said its business has struggled in December.

Traders welcomed news that Disney agreed to buy a large part of 21st Century Fox. Disney rose 2.8% to $110.57. Fox was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, climbing 6.5% to $34.88.

Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury stayed at 2.35%.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 44 cents to $57.04 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 86 cents, or 1.4%, to $63.30 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents, or 1.5%, to $1.67 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1 cent to $1.91 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.68 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The dollar fell to 112.18 yen from 112.52 yen. The euro fell to $1.1792 from $1.1820.

Bitcoin futures declined on their fourth day of trading, dropping $255, or 1.5%, to $16,800 on the Cboe Futures Exchange. The average price of an actual bitcoin was $16,496 in trading on private exchanges, according to CoinDesk.

Gold rose $8.50 to $1,257.10 an ounce. Silver rose 7 cents to $15.93 an ounce. Copper rose 2 cents to $3.07 a pound.