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Stocks close higher, helped by health care

Ken Sweet
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2014, file photo, an American flag flies in front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York. U.S. stocks started slightly lower early Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, as the price of oil tumbled almost 4 percent. That took energy companies sharply lower. Health care companies climbed after a strong outlook from UnitedHealth Group. Tiffany jumped after it reported better quarterly results than analysts expected. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
AP | AP

NEW YORK — Stocks closed slightly higher Tuesday, boosted by health care companies like UnitedHealth Group, which helped outweigh steep declines in energy companies.

Tiffany jumped after it reported better quarterly results than analysts expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.70 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,121.60. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.94 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,204.66 and the Nasdaq composite rose 11.11 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,379.92.



Stocks started the day slightly lower but posted slight gains by late morning and stayed higher throughout the afternoon.

Health care stocks were a primary driver of the market’s upward turn. UnitedHealth, the largest U.S. health insurer, backed its forecast for this year and said it expects its earnings to grow in 2017. That’s because of stable medical costs, less exposure to Affordable Care Act health care exchanges, and growth for Optum, a business that manages pharmacy benefits, runs clinics and doctors’ offices and provides technology services.




The Dow component closed up $5.48, or 3.6 percent, to $157.59.

Other health care stocks also rallied. Alexion Pharmaceuticals rose $6.21, or 5 percent, to $125.59. Drugmaker AbbVie rose $2.13, or 3.6 percent, to $61.59. Other insurance companies also posted gains. Aetna rose $3.64, or 2.8 percent, to $132.03. Cigna, Humana and Anthem all closed up more than 1 percent.

Health care stocks also rose following the announcement of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Georgia Congressman Tom Price, who is an adamant opponent of the Affordable Care Act and is likely to head up the Trump’s administration’s rollback of the law. Analysts at Jeffreys and Morgan Stanley both said this week the Trump administration would be positive for the industry.

After taking a pause Monday, stocks remain in rally mode since the election. However the gains have slowed down in the past week.

“We’re seeing a lot of consolidation after the market’s big run,” said Karen Hiatt, a senior portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors.

In energy, oil prices fell sharply after it seemed like a deal to reduce oil production among OPEC nations was starting to fall apart ahead of their meeting Wednesday. Saudi Arabia’s representatives have sounded skeptical, while Iran is hesitant to limit its own output as it ramps up production following years of international sanctions.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.85, or 3.9 percent, to close at $45.23 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, tumbled $1.86, or 3.9 percent, to close at $46.38 a barrel in London.

Energy stocks followed oil prices lower, with oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron falling roughly 1 percent each. The energy component of the S&P 500 fell 1.2 percent on Tuesday.

Luxury jeweler Tiffany traded higher after the company reported stronger sales in Asia, which countered weaker results from the U.S. and Europe. Its stock gained $2.46, or 3.1 percent, to $80.60.

In other energy commodities, heating oil fell 5 cents to $1.46 a gallon, wholesale gasoline fell 4 cents to $1.38 a gallon and natural gas was mostly unchanged at $3.32 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.30 percent from 2.31 percent. The dollar rose to 112.33 yen from 112.26 yen. The euro rose to $1.0647 compared with $1.0597 yesterday.

In metals, the price of gold fell $2.90, or 0.2 percent, to $1,187.90 an ounce. Silver rose 8 cents to $16.66 an ounce and copper fell 6 cents to $2.60 a pound.

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