July 14 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates on Friday as a smaller-than-expected jump in medical costs allayed fears that a resumption in long-delayed surgical procedures would hit profit growth, sending its shares up 5%. The beat from the industry bellwether lifted the shares of rivals Humana (HUM.N), Cigna (CI.N), CVS Health (CVS.N) and Elevance Health (ELV.N) between 2% and 5%. Chief financial officer John Rex said the company expects medical costs for the third quarter to be "a little bit lower" compared to the second quarter. UnitedHealth's profit of $6.14 per share for the second quarter beat analysts' expectations of $5.99, according to Refinitiv. Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: John Rex, Stephens, Scott Fidel, UnitedHealth, Humana, Bhanvi Satija, Pooja Desai Organizations: Wall, Humana, CVS Health, Elevance, Health, Medicare, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru