[BRIEFING.COM] Pharmaceutical stocks are having a tough outing. As a group they have lost 1.1% this session.

The slide comes even though major drug company and Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 59.03, -0.46) reaffirmed this morning its in-line earnings outlook for fiscal 2009 and generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA 50.01, -1.18) posted better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter.

Amid their declines the health care sector is down 0.4%.