A day that began looking dismal because of concerns about the sweeping health care overhaul in the United States ended looking upbeat...because of the sweeping health care overhaul.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 10,785.89, up 43.91 points, or 0.4 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1165.81, up 5.91 points, or 0.5 per cent.
Both indexes began the day with substantial losses (at least substantial next to the steady gains over most of the past two weeks), but crawled out of negative territory soon after the opening bell, with investors realizing that change can be good.
Health care stocks actually led the gains earlier in the day, although they handed back some of those gains in later trading, ending the day up about 0.6 per cent. Tenet Healthcare Corp., a hospital company, enjoyed the biggest jump of any stock on the S&P 500, rising 9 per cent. In other moves, Mylan Inc. rose 1.7 per cent and Aetna Inc. rose 0.5 per cent, but UnitedHealth Group Inc. fell 3.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, consumer discretionary stocks appeared to reflect greater confidence in the economic recovery, rising 1.3 per cent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 11,967.17, up 19.19 points, or 0.2 per cent - marking a 123-point reversal from its low earlier in the day.
Healthcare stocks were also hot, with Biovail Corp. up 1 per cent. Research In Motion Ltd. rose 1.5 per cent and Magna International Inc. rose 4.6 per cent.
However, energy stocks fell despite a modest rebound in the price of crude oil after the commodity initially dipped below $80 (U.S.) a barrel. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 0.9 per cent and Canadian Oil Sands Trust fell 0.8 per cent.