S&P 500 and Dow end session at record highs

REUTERS: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record highs on Monday, as investors eyed an economic recovery from the coronavirus and awaited cues from the Federal Reserve this week amid caution over rising borrowing costs.

In a concrete sign that the worst of the damage from the coronavirus pandemic may be over for the airline industry, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways said leisure bookings were rising.

Gains in the major indexes accelerated near the end of the trading session.

The S&P 1500 airlines index jumped over 4per cent to a one-year high, while other travel-related stocks, including Carnival Corp, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts jumped between 2per cent and 5per cent.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sector indexes rose, led by utilities and real estate, each up more than 1per cent.

It was the Dow's sixth straight record high close in a recent surge fueled by mass vaccinations and congressional approval of a US$1.9 trillion aid bill. Expectations of a recovery accelerated demand for stocks expected to outperform as the economy reopens, such as banks, energy, materials companies.

On Monday, the Russell growth index outperformed the Russell value index in a modest reversal of investors' recent trend away from technology and other high-growth stocks.

"With the vaccine positive news and the stimulus, we think there will continue to be a fair amount of rotation out of the stay-at-home stocks," said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments. "We are bullish on financial services and energy coming out of the pandemic."

The S&P 500 has gained almost 6per cent in 2021, while the Dow has added nearly 8per cent.

At the end of Fed's two-day meeting on Wednesday, policymakers are expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will grow in 2021 at its fastest rate in decades while reiterating their dovish stance for the foreseeable future.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries ticked lower to 1.60per cent, below its 13-month peak of 1.64per cent on Friday. Wall Street has been roiled in recent weeks by a spike in longer-dated U.S. bond yields due to fears of an increase in inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53per cent to end at 32,953.46 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.65per cent to 3,968.94.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.05per cent to 13,459.71. It remains down almost 5per cent from its Feb. 12 record high close.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.5 billion shares, compared with the 14.5 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Tesla rose about 2per cent after the company dubbed Chief Executive Elon Musk "Technoking of Tesla" in a formal regulatory filing.

Eli Lilly and Co shares slumped 9.1per cent after a mid-stage trial testing its experimental Alzheimer's drug led to "mixed" results, reducing the chances for the drug's accelerated approval, according to analysts.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.78-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 90 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 281 new highs and 15 new lows.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; additional reporting by Shashank Nayar and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis)