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Popular funds used to invest in the health-care and biotech sectors on Thursday were on track for the best weekly advance in seven months, according to FactSet data. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF was up 1.8% on the day and looking at a 10% weekly advance, which would mark its best such gain since the week ended Nov. 11 when the ETF surged 14.4%. The entire health-care complex was on the rise, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF also on track for its best weekly gain, up 4.2%, since November, with a 1.5% daily climb in sight. Gains in the IBB were being aided by a 13% rise in shares of XBiotech Inc. and a 8% jump in Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. [: SGMO]. The moves come as the U.S. Senate offered a glimpse of a draft of a health-care bill and as President Donald Trump has talked about making changes to drug pricing. Health-care stocks, led by Gilead Sciences were the best performer in the S&P 500 index . The S&P 500 was trading up 5 points, or 0.2%, at 2,440, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% at 21,435. The Nasdaq Composite Index , meanwhile, where biotech is a big component, was trading 0.3% higher at 6,253.

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Hospital system stocks rallied as much as 8% on Thursday following the release of the Senate GOP health bill, which appears to be more favorable to hospitals than the House of Representatives bill passed in early May. Tenet Healthcare Corporation shares jumped 8%, Community Health Systems Inc. shares skyrocketed 8.2%, HCA Healthcare Inc. shares rose 3.6% and Universal Health Services Inc. shares lifted 2.6% in midday trade, compared with a 1.6% rise in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR . Health insurer stocks also rose Tuesday, with UnitedHealth Group shares up 1.4%, Aetna Inc. stock rising 1.1%, Humana Inc. shares lifting 1.3% and Anthem Inc. shares up 0.9%, compared with a 0.2% rise in the S&P 500 . The Senate health bill “tries to phase in the pain” of changes to the Affordable Care Act like Medicaid spending cuts, said Spencer Perlman, director of health-care research at Veda Partners, who described the Senate plan as having “the same architecture” but “nicer furnishings.” Still, the benefit for hospitals is only in the short-term and thus probably overdone, he said. “Clearly, the Senate bill is viewed as less disruptive than the House bill to the number of people currently receiving insurance,” said Stefanie Miller, senior analyst at Height Securities. But “the initial reaction may have oversimplified how different this bill is,” she said, predicting that stocks that have risen on the news may be “rebalancing” in the coming days. Drug stocks also rose in Tuesday trade, with the SPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF rising 1.7% and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF rising 1.6%, which could be happening because the health bill has given investors confidence in Republicans achieving another legislative priority, tax reform, Miller said. Shares of the Health Care Select Sector SPDR have risen 8.7% over the last three months, compared with a 3.9% rise in the S&P 500 .

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President Donald Trump on Thursday addressed a long-festering question about his private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey. In a tweet on Thursday afternoon, Trump said: “With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea whether there are ‘tapes’ or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings,
I did not make, and do not have, any such recording.” He did leave open the possibility that such tapes exist. Questions around the existence of tapes of Trump’s conversations with Comey emerged after another Trump tweet, in which he implied that tapes of his one-on-on talks with the intelligence chief may exist: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’,” Trump wrote. In a hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee Comey on June 8, Comey said: “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” Comey fired by the president in May as he was investigating Russia’s alleged ties with members of Trump’s administration.

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The National Retail Federation said Thursday that theft and other inventory “shrink” at retailers totaled $48.9 billion in 2016, up from $45.2 billion in 2015. The rise in losses coincided with flat or declining retail security budgets, the group said. Nearly half of the retailers surveyed (48.8%) said inventory shrink increased. Shoplifting accounted for the biggest losses at $798.48 per incident, double the $377.00 average in 2015. The NRF attributes some of the rise to an increase in the threshold for felony crimes, with only larger thefts reported. Employee theft also increased to $1,922.80 from $1,233.77 in 2015. Retailers were asked about return fraud for the first time, reporting an average loss of $1,766.27. The NRF and University of Florida polled 83 loss prevention executives between March 29 and May 1. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 11.1% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 9% for the period.

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Nielsen said on Thursday that it is going to start measuring advertisements on YouTube’s mobile app. Nielsen already uses its digital ad ratings service for Alphabet Inc.-owned YouTube’s desktop and mobile web browsers, but will now include data and cross-device measurements of advertising audiences on YouTube’s app as well. It’s a necessary move for Nielsen’s marketing clients as younger viewers increasingly watch content on mobile devices. YouTube’s app is among the top-five free apps in the Apple Inc. App store. Nielsen will provide access to age and gender demographics for users viewing ads on YouTube’s app, as well as reach frequency and gross rating points, which measures the size of an ad campaign. “As more people watch video across digital platforms and devices, Nielsen’s comprehensive measurement of YouTube through digital ad ratings is crucial to provide a complete picture of media consumption,” said David Wong, Nielsen’s senior vice president of digital product leadership, in a statement. Nielsen Holdings Plc. shares have declined more than 11% in the year to date, while shares of Alphabet have gained more than 23% and the S&P 500 index has increased nearly 9%.

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Senate Republicans posted online Thursday their 140-page bill that would repeal and replace Obamacare. The measure, broadly similar to the House bill, will cut Medicaid funding and repeal taxes on the wealthy. The measure would end penalties for people who don’t have insurance. In a speech on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said legislation was needed because Obamacare “teeters on the edge of total collapse.” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said the measure would end Medicaid “as we know it.” The bill would “strip away health care benefits and protections from Americans who need it most in order to give a tax break to Americans who need it least,” Schumer said.

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Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday showed that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 61 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 16. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts forecast a build of 58 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.770 trillion cubic feet, down 324 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 207 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. July natural gas up a penny, or 0.4%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $2.903 per million British thermal units. It traded at $2.917 before the data.

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