Health insurance and banking stocks prompt Wall Street rise

US stocks closed with solid gains, led by health care companies and banks.

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group rose 3%, the most in the Dow Jones industrial average. Merck also rose 3%.

Bank stocks rose as investors hoped that higher interest rates could be on the way, which would allow banks to earn more from loaning money. Bank of America rose 2%.

The Dow was climbed 168 points, or 1%, to 17,888.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 22 points, or 1.1%, to 2,102. The Nasdaq composite rose 47 points, or 0.9%, to 5,156.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.15%.