Modbert
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CNNMoney.com Market Report - Mar. 22, 2010
Thoughts USMB?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks gained Monday, with health care shares leading the way as Congressional approval of a sweeping reform bill removed the uncertainty that has surrounded its passage for months.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 44 points, or 0.4%, ending at a fresh 18-month high. The S&P 500 index (SPX) gained 6 points, or 0.5%, and closed just shy of the 18-month high hit last week. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 21 points, or 0.9%, closing at a more than 18-month high.
Stocks fell in the first minutes of the session on renewed questions about Greece's ability to repay its debt. But the market soon erased losses and turned higher as investors began snapping up biotech, health care provider and hospital sector stocks in the wake of the House of Representatives' approval of the health care bill.
Many of those stocks have been stuck in narrow trading ranges over the last year amid questions about the breadth of any bill and whether or not Congress would approve it. But the removal of that uncertainty seemed to help lift the stocks beyond those ranges.
"The bill is being received well so far, but we have to see what comes out of it down the road," said Stephen Carl, head equity trader at Williams Capital Group.
Health care stock movers: Hospital operators advanced, as they are seen benefiting from the increased number of customers. Tenet Healthcare (THC, Fortune 500) gained 9% and Community Health Systems (CYH, Fortune 500) rallied 6%
Thoughts USMB?