US STOCKS-Wall St climbs on health bill; Nasdaq at 15-month high

                                
  
                                
 * Health insurers' shares jump after Senate vote
                                
 * Year-end window dressing boosts shares
                                
 * Intel, Alcoa shares climb after broker upgrades
                                
 * Dow up 0.8 pct; S&P 500 up 1.1 pct; Nasdaq up 1.2 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click STXNEWS/US
 (Adds Take Two shares fall after the bell and volume figures)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday,
with the Nasdaq hitting a 15-month high after a healthcare
reform bill advanced in the Senate and brokerages upgraded two
Dow components on improving profit prospects.
                                
 Healthcare stocks rose after a bill to overhaul the U.S.
healthcare system, which is perceived as less damaging to
industry profits than expected, passed a crucial test in the
U.S. Senate early Monday.
                                
 Retail stocks also gained as investors were optimistic
about the rest of the holiday shopping season even after a
heavy snowstorm hit the East Coast over the weekend, which may
have deprived retailers of profits. For details, see
[ID:nN21252224]
                                
 Legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system passed a
crucial test early Monday as backers cleared a procedural
hurdle to approving the bill, which is President Barack Obama's
top legislative priority. For details, see [ID:nN21199371]
                                
 Following the vote, the Morgan Stanley Health Payor index
<.HMO> climbed 3 percent. Health insurers Aetna Inc <AET.N>
added 4.7 percent to $34.04 and Cigna Corp <CI.N> rose 3.9
percent to $37.19.
                                
 "When it comes to healthcare, as it is with any industry,
it's more about certainty," said Marc Pado, U.S. market
strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in San Francisco.  
"That way you know who the winners and losers are."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> shot up 85.25
points, or 0.83 percent, to end at 10,414.14. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 11.58 points, or 1.05 percent,
to 1,114.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 25.97
points, or 1.17 percent, to end at 2,237.66.
                                
 WALL STREET'S PHOTO OP
                                
 Window dressing -- where portfolio managers sell lagging
stocks and buy shares that have rallied recently -- also buoyed
the broard market. On Monday, investors snapped up winners
after a rally that has driven the S&P 500 up 23.3 percent for
the year.
                                
 The S&P 500 closed within a hair of a new 14-month high,
while the Nasdaq ended at a 15-month high. In contrast, the Dow
ended considerably below its 2009 closing high at 10,501.05,
which it reached on Dec. 4.
                                
 "You've got a bull market surge that's going to be
difficult for fund managers to keep pace with," Pado said.
                                
 "Window dressing is about the photo at the end of the year
or the end of the quarter and that photo has to show you were
playing in the right stocks."
                                
 Intel Corp <INTC.O> gained 2.3 percent to $20.09 on Nasdaq
after Barclays upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal
weight", citing solid "end-market" conditions. [ID:nSGE5BK0H9]
                                
 Alcoa Inc <AA.N> gave the Dow its biggest boost after it
announced a joint venture to build a $10.8 billion aluminum
complex in Saudi Arabia. For an analysis, see [ID:nN21239050]
                                
 Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on Alcoa's stock
to "buy," expecting the company to report increased
profitability in its alumina and downstream divisions. Alcoa
jumped 7.9 percent to $15.73 and helped lift the materials
sector <.GSPM> 1.2 percent.
                                
 Sentiment also brightened after several acquisition deals,
including an agreement by Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> to buy
consumer healthcare company Chattem Inc <CHTT.O> for about $1.9
billion, driving Chattem's stock up 33.1 percent to $93.14.
[ID:nLDE5BK12I]
                                
 TAKE TWO SLIDES AFTER THE BALL
                                
 Shares of Take Two Interactive Software Inc <TTWO.O> lost
5.1 percent to $8.95 in extended trade after the company
revised its outlook lower, citing the impact of the sale of its
distribution business Jack of All Games.
                                
 Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with only
1.01 billion shares changing hands, well below last year's
estimated daily average of 1.49 billion. On the Nasdaq, about
1.84 billion shares traded, well below last year's daily
average of 2.28 billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
about 11 to 4, while on the Nasdaq, two stocks rose for every
one that fell.