NEW YORK – U.S. stocks rose, erasing an early drop, as drugmakers gained after the House passed an overhaul of the health-care industry and analyst upgrades lifted companies from Citigroup to Boeing.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer climbed at least 1.4 percent to help lead health care companies higher after the House approved legislation that will ensure tens of millions of uninsured Americans will get medical coverage.
“The health care legislation approval removes the uncertainty,” said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at the Philadelphia Trust Co. “On top of that, the shares had been beaten down, so you can find reasonably valued companies.”
The S&P 500 increased 0.5 percent to 1,165.8, reversing an earlier 0.6 percent retreat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 43.91 points, or 0.4 percent, to 10,785.89.
U.S. stocks retreated at the start of trading amid concern growing government deficits around the world and rising interest rates will derail the global recovery.
Advanced economies face “acute” challenges from high public debt, and unwinding stimulus measures won’t come close to bringing deficits back to prudent levels, John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said Sunday at the China Development Forum in Beijing.
The Reserve Bank of India raised its benchmark rates after local financial markets closed Friday, a month earlier than the next scheduled review, to tame the fastest inflation in more than a year. Policy makers in Australia and Malaysia have also increased rates since the end of February, while China has ordered lenders to set aside more funds as reserves.
Health-care stocks in the S&P 500 increased 0.6 percent as a group. Tenet Healthcare Corp., the hospital operator, had the biggest gain in the S&P 500, surging 9 percent to $6.27.
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