The healthcare index .SPXHC, was weighed down by shares of drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N and Biogen BIIB.O throughout the day. The central bank's plan for easing accommodation to fight inflation includes raising interest rates, which analysts expect to start as soon as March, as well as tapering its bond buying program and reducing its asset holdings. "The fact that bond market yields are standing down is probably a signal for equity investors to take on a little more risk today," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management in Chicago.