Wall Street up as health stocks rally on Obamacare ruling

(Reuters) - Healthcare stocks jumped after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld tax subsidies key to Obamacare while a jump in consumer spending sent the broader U.S. market higher.

The S&P 500 healthcare index <.SPXHC> rallied as much as 0.91 percent after the court ruled that the 2010 Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, did not restrict the subsidies to states that establish their own online healthcare exchanges.

The index, which is up 11.3 percent for the year, constituted 15.1 percent of the S&P 500 as of May 29.

Healthcare stocks continue to be attractive because the ruling releases the overhang and investors can focus on the operations of these companies, Oppenheimer & Co analyst Michael Wiederhorn said.

UnitedHealth Group jumped as much as 2.5 percent to $122.13 and was the biggest boost to the Dow.

Among hospitals, shares of Community Health Systems were up 9.3 percent at $60.44 after touching a record high of $62, while shares of HCA Holdings rose 8.6 percent to $90.46 and Tenet Healthcare jumped 12 percent to $56.08.

At 11:27 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 39.03 points, or 0.22 percent, at 18,005.1, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 5.46 points, or 0.26 percent, at 2,114.04 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 15.41 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,137.82.

Wall Street continued to take some cues from the ongoing Greek debt crisis as talks between Greece and its international creditors remained inconclusive, but markets remained hopeful that a last-minute deal will materialize.

The International Monetary Fund said discussions on debt sustainability and financing for Greece will have to wait until Athens implements key reforms.

Investors have also been keeping a sharp eye on economic data for signs of a recovery in the U.S. economy, which came to a crawl in the first quarter, as the Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

The Commerce Department said consumer spending increased 0.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since August 2009, after a 0.1 percent rise in April. Personal income increased 0.5 percent last month after a similar gain in April.

Weekly jobless claims rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 271,000 for the week ended June 20 but labor market conditions continued to tighten.

IAC/Interactive shares jumped as much as 6.7 percent to $82.75 - a record high - after the company said it planned to list its dating business, which includes Match.com and mobile app Tinder.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,596 to 1,314. On the Nasdaq, 1,407 issues rose and 1,172 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 13 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 86 new highs and 19 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Amrutha Penumudi; Editing by Don Sebastian)

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