Healthcare stocks rose Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index rising 1.6% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) adding 1.5%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.7%.

In corporate news, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) agreed to buy endocrine disease drugmaker Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (CRNX) for a total equity value of about $10 billion. Crinetics shares surged 98%, and Vertex was down 0.5%.