Biotech stocks rallied on the news that Republicans would control both the White House and Capitol Hill, buoyed by the perception that a ruby-red federal government won’t take action to rein in high drug prices.
As Donald Trump’s victory slowly unfolded on Tuesday night, global markets initially plummeted, then calmed. And by Wednesday, that calm had turned to downright optimism for drug company stocks: The Nasdaq biotech index finished the day up 9 percent. Individual pharmaceutical stocks also rallied: By the market close, Pfizer was up 7 percent and Merck up 6 percent.
And European-based pharmaceutical companies Roche, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk A/S each closed the day up by 4 percent or more in foreign markets.
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