Wall St gains as healthcare uncertainty ends

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday on gains in the tech sector and after a bill overhauling the healthcare system was passed, ending much of the uncertainty for investors.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill late on Sunday, and while analysts have raised concerns it will squeeze company profits and add to costs, they said much of the negative impact was already priced in.

"The markets are rising now because that uncertainty was removed," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in San Francisco.

Pado added that investors now know who the "winners and losers" of the bill would be, "with pharmaceutical companies selling more drugs, but insurers unable to raise rates like they could before."

Among drug companies, Pfizer Inc added 1.8 percent to $17.22 while Merck & Co advanced 1.7 percent to $38.69. Both companies are Dow components.

Insurance companies were mixed, with WellPoint Inc down 0.6 percent to $64.66 and Aetna Inc up 0.5 percent to $34.64. Many insurance firms posted strong gains in the week before the bill was passed.

The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index <.HMO> of insurance providers rose 1.1 percent, putting it on track for a sixth straight session of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 50.41 points, or 0.47 percent, to 10,792.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 5.29 points, or 0.46 percent, to 1,165.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 18.75 points, or 0.79 percent, to 2,393.16.

The top boost on the Dow was Boeing , which rose 1.9 percent to $72.04 after Barclays raised its price target on the planemaker.

Big-cap tech companies lifted the Nasdaq. Oracle Corp advanced 1.8 percent to $25.65, putting it among the stocks giving the biggest lift to the index. The company is expected to report results later this week.

Apple Inc gained 1.5 percent to $225.70.

On the earnings front, jeweler Tiffany & Co reported a fourth-quarter profit that was weaker than expected but gave a full-year profit view that was above consensus. The stock edged 0.1 percent lower to $47.19.

CNX Gas Corp shares surged 23 percent to $37.85 a day after its parent company, Consol Energy Inc , reached a deal with T. Rowe Price Associates to tender CNX shares. Under the terms of the agreement, Consol will buy the shares for $38.25 per share each, compared with the company's Friday closing price of $30.80.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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