Payer, health tech stocks jump at market open despite election uncertainty

While the lack of a clear winner in the presidential election in the wee morning hours after the polls closed was hardly unexpected, it did little to offer certainty.

Futures markets were volatile overnight. But as the markets opened Wednesday morning, they were climbing, with the Nasdaq up more than 2% at the open.

For healthcare industry stocks, it led to a mixed reaction from investors Wednesday morning. Here's a look at how different corners of the healthcare industry reacted:

Healthcare payers tick up

Stock prices across major national payers were up across the board shortly after markets opened.

Leading the charge is Cigna, whose stock price rose by 14.5% as of about 9:40 a.m. to reach $210.45. Anthem also saw its stock price increase in the double digits in that window, with its price hitting $323.53, an 10.5% hike.

Humana’s stock price climbed by 8.2%, hitting $459.53, with UnitedHealth Group reporting a 6.4% price hike, reaching $342.18.

At the lower end of the spectrum, CVS Health’s stock price was up about 2% to $60.57, and Centene Corporation’s increased by about 0.6% to $65.05.

RELATED: California dialysis measure fails, mixed results for tobacco taxes in state-level ballot measures

Healthcare tech climbs

Health technology companies saw their stock prices climb.

Telehealth giant Teladoc saw its stock price rise more than 3.6% to reach $202 per share. Teladoc just recently acquired digital health company Livongo in a blockbuster $18.5 billion deal.

Competitor American Well's (Amwell) stock value increased in the double digits, with its price hitting $29.14, a 12% hike.

Another telehealth company, SOC Telemed, saw its stock rise by 1.5% to $9.52.

Medical device company ResMed reported a 3.6% price hike to $209.75.

Prescription drug shopping site GoodRx, which just went public in August, also saw its stock climb 4.5% to $49.65, while tech-enabled primary care company One Medical’s stock price rose about 3.5% to $30.30.

Health IT company Cerner saw modest gains, with its stock rising about 2.4% to $74.20.

Health system companies dip

Several major for-profit hospital systems opened to low single-digit declines in their stock price.

Major hospital chain Tenet’s stock declined by 4.59% and Community Health Systems' by 7.21%.

However, HCA Healthcare suffered a smaller decline of 2.03%, and Universal Health Services’ stock value declined by 2.76%.