April 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fluctuated as better- than-estimated earnings at Humana Inc. spurred a rally in health-care shares and General Motors Corp. said it plans to reduce liabilities by $44 billion.
Humana Inc., the second-biggest provider of U.S.-backed medical benefits, jumped 6.5 percent after profit more than doubled on higher premiums and lower drug-plan costs. CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co. advanced on speculation that the spread of swine flu will boost sales of hygiene products and pharmaceuticals. Qualcomm Inc. climbed 6 percent as the world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone chips said sales will exceed its targets this year on demand for higher-end handsets.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 866.61 at 10:47 a.m. in New York after sliding as much as 1.2 percent earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 24.37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,100.66.
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