US STOCKS-Dow tops 27,000 as Trump's decision on rebate boosts healthcare

* Insurers rise on report drug rebate proposal dropped
* Delta Air Lines gains on strong qtrly profit, lifts rivals
* CPI rises by most in nearly 1-1/2 years in June
* Fed's Powell to resume two-day testimony at 10:00 a.m. ET
* Indexes up: Dow 0.50%, S&P 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.15%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
July 11 (Reuters) - The Dow Industrials crossed 27,000
points for the first time and the S&P 500 was near record highs
on Thursday, lifted by technology and healthcare stocks and
raised bets of an interest rate cut following Fed chief Jerome
Powell's dovish remarks.
Shares of health insurers including Cigna Corp CI.N and
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N jumped 13.74% and 4.74%, while
drug distributors such as McKesson Corp MCK.N rose 3.85% after
the Trump administration withdrew a rule aimed at eliminating
drug rebates from its Medicare health plans. The healthcare index .SPXHC , which is the worst performing
S&P sector this year, rose 0.29%.
Powell, who began his second day of testimony before the
Congress, had said that the central bank stood ready to "act as
appropriate" to support record U.S. economic growth.
"Is the chief of money going to stave off real weak growth
or recession or is it an insurance policy cut move?" said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities
in New York. "If latter, the market can continue its rally. If
not, we are going to have an earnings problem."
At 9:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 135.16 points, or 0.50%, at 26,995.36. The S&P 500 .SPX was
up 6.97 points, or 0.23%, at 3,000.04, and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 12.56 points, or 0.15%, at 8,215.09.
Technology .SPLRCT stocks rose 0.30%, providing a major
boost to the three main indexes.
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N rose 1% after reporting a 39.3%
rise in quarterly profit, as the carrier benefited from higher
fares and flying fuller planes. This comes a day after American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O
raised its estimate for second-quarter unit revenue. The S&P
1500 airlines index .SPCOMALI rose 0.37%.
A Labor Department report showed U.S. underlying consumer
prices increased by the most in nearly 1-1/2 years in June, but
that was unlikely to change expectations the Fed would cut rates
this month.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.33-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.01-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 12 new lows.