Wall Street falls 1 percent as health centers weigh Nasdaq deletes 2018 gains from Reuters

By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) – Wall Street struck 1 percent on Monday, led by health centers following a federal decision that Obamacare was constitutional, with the decline in the market-leading sector further unnerving investors who are already keen to slow down global growth.

The latest slide cleared Nasdaq's slim winnings for the year, with the US markets experiencing its worst December performance for over 80 years. The Dow Industrials ended 1[ads1]0 percent Friday during its record closes high to join and Nasdaq in what is known as correction territory. A number of health insurance companies and hospital operators fell Monday after a federal judge on Friday claimed that the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, was unconstitutional based on its mandate that requires people to buy health insurance.

The S & P health service fell 1.53 percent to cite its position as the most efficient S & P sector this year to the defense index, which was 0.48 percent on Monday.

In fact, all the 11 largest sectors were lower, with the slightest drops logged in the real estate and consumer lumber indices, also considered defensive with tools.

"We took a big hit on Friday and what we see now is an uncertain market," said Peter Cardillo, market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

Financial companies fell 0.77 percent t before expected interest rate hikes at the Federal Reserve's Tuesday-Wednesday monetary policy meeting.

However, investors hope that the central bank can facilitate hiking next year, among increasing worries to slow global growth and President Donald Trump on Monday again criticized Fed for "self considering" a rate hike.

At 9:55 ET ET was down 262.53 points, or 1.09 percent, at 23.837.98, the S & P 500 was down 28.54 points, or 1.10 percent, at 2.571.41 and it was down 90.92 points, or 1.32 percent, at 6,819.75.

Insurance company UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE 🙂 fell 2.14 percent and was the biggest draw on Dow. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE 🙂 continued his slide with a 2.2 percent drop in the wake of a Reuters report that the pharma major knew in Several decades that his Baby Powder contained asbestos.

Meanwhile Goldman Sachs Group ] Inc (NYSE 🙂 fell 2.6 percent after Malaysia sent criminal charges against the bank and two former employees in connection with the 1MDB survey.

Falling problems were the prerequisites for a 3.38-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.87 to 1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S & P index recorded a new 52-week high and 89 new downturns, while the Nasdaq registered four new heights and 294 new downturns.