US STOCKS-Tech, pharma advance leads Wall St higher

NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday as investors snapped up technology shares after a two-day sell-off, while both the Dow and the S&P 500 clung to modest gains as healthcare shares advanced.

* Goldman Sachs added chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to its "conviction buy" list while rival Texas Instruments (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) was upgraded by Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch to "buy" from "underperform."

* Qualcomm shares jumped 2.7 percent to $44.64, while Texas Instruments was up 3.2 percent at $21.40. Networking equipment maker Cisco (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) also underpinned the technology sector after its CEO said he had seen business improve.

* The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI climbed 28.34 points, or 0.33 percent, to 8,533.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 1.83 points, or 0.20 percent, to 913.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 15.25 points, or 0.85 percent, to 1,811.43, after rising 1 percent to hit a session high at 1,814.65. (Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Jan Paschal)