Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index headed for a third day of losses, as a government crackdown on tax-saving mergers sent drugmakers with pending cross-border deals lower.

The S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,989.27 at 9:30 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.44 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,128.24.

“People are concerned that some of the froth in the market will decrease with lower prospect for larger deals,” John Carey, a Boston-based fund manager at Pioneer Investment Management Inc., which oversees about $230 billion, said in a phone interview. “That’s affecting some specific stocks, particularly health care. There could also be an effect on the financial industry, which was benefiting from the big merger fees.”

Investors are also watching developments in the Middle East, where airstrikes against the militant Khorasan Group in Syria were prompted by plans for an “imminent” terror attack on U.S. soil, the Pentagon said.

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