In a year where U.S. stock-market indexes rallied to records and then reeled back amid concerns over an international trade war, pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc. were kings of the Dow.
The drugmakers rose along with the rest of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in a summer rally, then outlasted the market’s autumn decline. Through Dec. 28, the pair were the top performers in the 30-stock Dow. On the broader S&P 500 Index, another big drug company, Eli Lilly & Co., was among the 20 largest gainers.
