The Denver Post

Dow briefly surpasses 23,000

Health care companies soar on strong earnings, proposal on subsidies

- By Alex Veiga

Gains by health care companies led U.S. stock indexes mostly higher Tuesday, pushing the market further into record territory.

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly climbed above the 23,000 mark for the first time, settling just below the milestone. Slight gains nudged the Dow and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes to new highs for the second straight day this week.

Health care companies posted some of the biggest gains following strong earnings from UnitedHeal­th Group and Johnson & Johnson. News of a plan backed by the White House that would extend federal payments to health insurers also gave the sector a boost.

Trading was mostly listless as investors sized up the latest company earnings news and looked ahead to a full slate of corporate report cards later this week.

“Expectatio­ns of ongoing earnings growth are reasonably strong, but there may be a bit of a waitand-see at this point in time given the run in the equity markets,” said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede.

The S&P 500 index added 1.72 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,559.36. The Dow picked up 40.48 points, or 0.2 percent, to 22,997.44. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.35 points, or 0.01 percent, to 6,623.66. The Russell 2000 index of smallercom­pany stocks fell 5.18 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,497.50.

UnitedHeal­th, the country’s biggest health insurer, jumped 5.5 percent after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates. The stock gained $10.69 to $203.89. Johnson & Johnson added 3.4 percent after reporting a strong quarter of its own. Its shares picked up $4.67 to $140.79.

Biogen gained $8.799, or 2.6 percent, to $344.47, while Anthem added $3.50, or 1.9 percent, to $187.26.

Oil prices closed slightly higher, rebounding after an early slide.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained a penny to settle at $51.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, used to price internatio­nal oils, rose 6 cents to close at $57.88 a barrel in London.

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