US stocks were higher in late morning trading on Tuesday as shares of health care companies bounced back and data showed consumer confidence was at its highest since January. Concerns about the health of the global economy, however, persisted after weak data from China sparked a sharp selloff on Monday. Eight of the 10 S&P sectors were up, with the healthcare index's 1.50 percent gain leading the advancers. The index had been under pressure after US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticised drug pricing last week.
Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic provided the biggest boost to the index, which closed down in the last seven sessions. The materials index was up 0.69 percent, recovering some of Monday's losses. "I think it's just more of a relief rally and it's going to be important to see the market hold the rally and maybe even improve as we go through the day," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite closed down in the last five sessions. "I think a lot of traders are hoping that this is the end of the pullback," said Gordon Charlop, a managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York. Investors are keeping an eye on data scheduled to be released this week, culminating in nonfarm payrolls numbers on Friday. At 11:26 am ET (1526 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was up 14.4 points, or 0.09 percent, at 16,016.29, the S&P 500 was up 4.64 points, or 0.25 percent, at 1,886.41 and the Nasdaq composite was up 11.25 points, or 0.25 percent, at 4,555.22.
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