* U.S. House passes healthcare overhaul
* Drugmakers, health insurer index make gains
* Boeing rises after brokerage ups price target
* Dow up 0.4 pct, S&P up 0.5 pct, Nasdaq up 0.9 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates to close)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday,
building on last week's strength, as the passage of a bill
overhauling the healthcare system ended much of the uncertainty
about the issue for investors.
While some analysts raised concerns the bill, approved on
Sunday, could squeeze company profits and add to costs, they
said much of the negative impact was already priced in. For
details, see []
"Whether you like healthcare or not, there's now certainty
about what's going to happen," said Matt Kaufler, portfolio
manager and equity analyst at Clover Capital Management in
Rochester, New York.
"If it hadn't passed, the issue would've been how much
longer the process was going to continue."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 43.91
points, or 0.41 percent, at 10,785.89. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 5.91 points, or 0.51 percent, at
1,165.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 20.99
points, or 0.88 percent, at 2,395.40.
Among drug companies, Pfizer Inc <PFE.N> added 1.4 percent
to $17.15 while Merck & Co <MRK.N> advanced 0.6 percent to
$38.30. Both companies are Dow components.
Insurance companies were mixed, with WellPoint Inc <WLP.N>
down 1.1 percent to $64.39 and Aetna Inc <AET.N> up 0.5 percent
to $34.64. Molina Healthcare <MOH.N>, which stands to gain from
the extension of Medicaid benefits, rose 3.6 percent to
$25.33.
Many insurance providers posted strong gains in the week
before the bill was passed. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor
Index <.HMO> rose 1.3 percent for a sixth straight session of
gains.
After initially trading lower, the Dow rebounded to finish
at a 17-month high and its ninth gain in 10 sessions.
"The fact that we didn't see a big decline early on helped
strengthen some of the confidence in the overall market," said
Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners in
New York.
The average's top boost was Boeing Co <BA.N>, which rose
1.9 percent to $72.04 after Barclays raised its price target on
the planemaker.
Big-cap tech companies lifted the Nasdaq to its highest
close since August 2008. Oracle Corp <ORCL.O> advanced 1.8
percent to $25.65. The business software maker is scheduled to
report results later this week.
Google Inc <GOOG.O> edged 0.4 percent lower to $557.95.
Earlier it said visitors to its China search engine are being
redirected to the Hong Kong-based engine following unsuccessful
talks with the Chinese government about operating an uncensored
search engine in the country. []
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese Internet search firm Baidu
Inc <BIDU.O> rose 1.6 percent to $578.91.
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> gained 1.2 percent to $224.87.
Jeweler Tiffany & Co <TIF.N> reported a fourth-quarter
profit that was weaker than expected but gave a full-year
profit view that was above consensus. The stock slipped 0.3
percent to $47.41. []
CNX Gas Corp <CXG.N> shares surged 23 percent to $37.84 a
day after its parent company, Consol Energy Inc <CNX.N>,
reached a deal with T. Rowe Price Associates to tender CNX
shares. Under the agreement, Consol will buy the shares for
$38.25 per share, compared with the company's Friday closing
price of $30.80. []
Shares of Consol fell 1.9 percent to $44.69.
About 7.93 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, making it one
of the slowest days of the year.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, roughly two stocks rose
for every one that fell.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
