The stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies are –1% in morning trading today as markets dropped in response to surging COVID-19 cases and a stalled U.S. economic stimulus package.
MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index is actually performing better than the overall market. As of the late morning, the Down Jones Industrial Average is –2.56%, and the S&P 500 is –1.95%.
Today’s drop comes after a previous week (ended March 23) in which the Index ticked up 1.2% to 97.2.
The Index — which sits at 96.05 in late-morning trading — is more than four points ahead of its pre-pandemic high of 92.32, which the market reached on Feb. 19, and 34 points ahead of its COVID-19 pandemic low of 62.13 on March 23
The industry continues to plug along amid the pandemic as it provides many products vital to protecting front-line workers and treating those with the virus. At the same time, rising COVID-19 cases cause health providers to focus more on the pandemic versus performing elective procedures.