Australian biotech market watch 02/11/09

Biotechnology stocks have taken a hit today as the Australian stock exchange dropped 93 points on the back of a turbulent day on Wall St and falling commodity prices.

Health stocks, as measured by the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care index, fell by 100 points to 8,286, or 1.2%, which was better than the 2% of the overall market as of 2pm this afternoon.

Of the biggest losers was Cochlear (ASX:COH), which dropped $1.35, or 2.1%, to $62.75, although this follows a late rise in share price on Friday afternoon. CSL (ASX:CSL) also lost 36c to $31.14. ResMed (ASX:RMD) stayed relatively steady, up 3c to $5.48.

Vitamin maker, Blackmores (ASX:BKL), also took a dive, shedding 68c, or 3.3%, to $20.02, after seeing a 6.6% increase on Friday. The stock is still up 52% from January 2.

Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA), which experienced a meteoric rise earlier in the year has waned further since its high in mid October, falling 13c, or 4.6%, to $2.71.

Falls were also seen by Ansell (ASX:ANN), which fell 11c, and HealthScope (ASX:HSP), which lost 13c to $4.63.