Wall Street set for flat open a day after hitting records

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

REUTERS - Wall Street was poised for a quiet open on Wednesday, a day after the post-election rally powered major indexes to record highs as investors bet that the next U.S. government's policies would be more market friendly.

However, healthcare stocks, which had a sharp run higher following the election, were dragged down by Eli Lilly after the company said it would stop developing its Alzheimer's drug following a trail failure.

Lilly shares plunged 14 percent premarket and pulled down the stocks of companies developing similar drugs. Biogen dropped 6.7 percent, while Axovant tumbled 17.3 percent.

Juno Therapeutics sank 28.7 percent after it said two patients died during a trial of its experimental leukemia drug.

Healthcare stocks had also weighed on Wall Street on Tuesday, but that did not prevent the three main U.S. indexes from hitting intraday highs and closing at record levels for the second straight day.

Trading volumes were below their 20-day average and are likely to remain subdued ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday and an early market close on Black Friday.

"People are in a holiday mindset today, but nothing appears to be in the horizon to derail the recent market strength," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

"But on days when light volume is expected, it is easier to move stocks and should anything come out that is market moving, the degree of move could be exacerbated."

Dow e-minis were down 1 point, or 0.01 percent at 8:32 a.m. ET, with 22,546 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.5 points, or 0.11 percent, with 105,091 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 7.75 points, or 0.16 percent, on volume of 13,394 contracts.

Investors are also waiting for the Federal Reserve to release the minutes of its November meeting later in the day that will likely reinforce its plan to raise interest rates next month.

Analysts say President-elect Donald Trump's planned policies would boost inflation, helping the Fed move closer to raising rates. Traders have priced in an 87 percent chance of a hike on Dec. 14, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Economic data on Wednesday included a report that showed orders for durable goods rose by a much stronger-than-expected 4.8 percent in October, while a separate report showed a slight uptick jobless claims last week.

Among stocks, Urban Outfitters sank 10.2 percent to $35.01 after the apparel maker's comparable sales missed analysts' estimates.

Deere soared 11.2 percent to $102.35 after the farm equipment maker's quarterly sales and earnings beat expectations.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)