CORRECTED - US STOCKS-Wall St climbs, led by tech, biotech; banks drag
(Corrects to change number of S&P bank downgrades in paragraph 5)
* Technology leads on Cisco CEO's comments
* S&P downgrades 22 U.S. banks, financial stocks slip
* Obama unveils financial regulatory package
* Dow up 0.5 pct; S&P up 0.5 pct; Nasdaq up 1.4 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to early afternoon, changes byline)
NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday, led by technology and biotech stocks, while declining financial shares reined in the Dow's and S&P's gains after a broad debt ratings downgrade on banks.
Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) gave support to tech shares after its influential CEO John Chambers said to CNBC television he has seen business level out in the last few months, and its shares jumped almost 2 percent to $19.45.
Qualcomm (QCOM.O) topped the Nasdaq's major advancers, rising 4.2 percent to $45.26 after Goldman Sachs added the wireless technology supplier's stock to its "conviction buy" list.
Among biotechs, Celgene Corp (CELG.O) also helped buoy the Nasdaq a day after news that its experimental anti-inflammatory drug was effective in a mid-stage study of patients with psoriatic arthritis. Celgene's stock jumped 5.4 percent to $45.44.
But gains in the Dow and the S&P 500 were kept in check after 18 U.S. banks were downgraded by Standard & Poor's.
"People are seeing some good values. For today people seem to be selling financials and getting into tech and biotech," said Neil Massa, senior U.S. trader at MFC Global Investment Management in Boston.
"Banks are down on the S&P downgrade,but also people are taking profits because (banks) have had such a great run."
Massa said the healthcare sector was lifted as investors saw headwinds in Obama's aggressive healthcare reform, which could hurt drugmakers' earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 46.10 points, or 0.54 percent, to 8,550.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX added 4.96 points, or 0.54 percent, to 916.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 24.70 points, or 1.38 percent, to 1,820.88. Continued...
