03:23 PM EDT, 08/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index up 0.1% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) adding 0.3%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.5%.

In corporate news, Merck ( MRK ) shares rose 2.6% after Daiwa upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $143 per share from $120.