03:38 PM EDT, 07/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) both up 0.7%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) added 1%.

In corporate news, the US Federal Trade Commission is getting ready to sue the largest three pharmacy benefit managers over their negotiating tactics for drug prices including insulin, following a two-year probe into whether those companies steer patients toward more-expensive medicines, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The three largest PBMs -- UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) OptumRx, Cigna's ( CI ) Express Scripts and CVS Health's ( CVS ) Caremark -- handle about 80% of US prescriptions, the report said. UnitedHealth ( UNH ) shares climbed 1.4%, Cigna ( CI ) eased 0.1% and CVS shed 0.5%.