Health Care Leads Stock Market Higher

Today's rally in the stock market is being attributed to an expected positive outcome in a special election for a Massachusetts Senate seat. Democrats may lose their filibuster-proof, 60 seat majority in the U.S. Senate if Republican Scott Brown wins the late Edward Kennedy's seat. Traders are speculating that if Brown wins, Obama's health care plan will be in serious jeopardy. As a result, health care stocks such as Cigna (NYSE: CI), Aetna (NYSE: AET), and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) had very strong days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved 115 points higher on the day to finish at 10,725. The S&P 500 index pushed 1.25%, or 14.2 points, into positive territory to 1,150 and the Nasdaq market appreciated 32.4 points to close at 2,320.