US SMALL/MIDCAPS-Energy, healthcare buck broader losses

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Mid- and small-cap stocks gave up early gains and fell on Monday, although solid gains in energy and healthcare stocks offset broader losses.

Financial stocks stumbled, with the S&P MidCap Financial index .4GSPF down 1.6 percent and the S&P SmallCap Financial index .6GSPF off 1.8 percent.

Mid-cap stock PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) dropped 4.9 percent to $16.15 while small-cap Central Pacific Financial Group Inc (CPF.N) plunged 22.7 percent to $1.09.

Stocks had moved higher early in the session, as stronger-than-expected data on manufacturing and pending home sales sparked an advance in the wake of last week's sell-off.

"This is not about earnings or the macro data that we've seen because all of it has been very positive," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

"But we are under pressure because there is a question of whether or not we can hold this level."

The S&P MidCap Energy index .4GSPE dipped 0.2 percent. Earlier, the index was up 1 percent after Denbury Resources Inc (DNR.N) agreed to acquire midcap Encore Acquisition Co (EAC.N), which surged 21 percent to $44.87, for $3.2 billion to create one of the largest oil production and exploration companies in North America. For details, see [ID:nN01400606]

Denbury fell nearly 11 percent to $13.02.

Also serving to support energy stocks was Newfield Exploration Co (NFX.N), up 0.3 percent at $41.14 after SunTrust Robinson Humphrey upgraded the stock to a "buy" rating.

Midcap Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX.O) jumped 9.4 percent to $36.70 after the company said its hepatitis C drug telaprevir was almost equally effective in a twice-daily regimen as when taken three times a day. [ID:nN31437776]

The S&P MidCap Healthcare Index .4GSPA rose 0.9 percent.

The S&P MidCap 400 index .MID gained 0.2 percent while the S&P SmallCap index .SML lost 1.3 percent.

In comparison, the large-cap S&P 500 index .SPX slipped 0.4 percent. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)