Dow hits record as energy, bank stocks gain

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high in late morning trading on Monday as energy and bank stocks gained, but a fall in tech stocks dragged down the Nasdaq.

Goldman Sachs and Chevron gave the biggest boost to the Dow, while JPMorgan and Exxon helped lift the broader S&P 500 index.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, topped by the energy index's 1.38 percent rise.

Oil resumed its longest stretch of daily rallies in more than five years after data pointed to moderating U.S. output, pushing energy names higher.

However, a fall in Facebook, Comcast and Nvidia weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Trading volume is expected to be light on Monday, with the U.S. market closing early at 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT). It will be shut on Tuesday for Independence Day.

At 11:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183.19 points, or 0.86 percent, at 21,532.82, slightly easing from its all-time high of 21548.84.

The S&P 500 was up 13.37 points, or 0.55 percent, at 2,436.78 but the Nasdaq Composite index was down 19.58 points, or 0.32 percent, at 6,120.85.

Helping sentiment was data that showed U.S. factory activity jumped in June, suggesting economic growth in the second quarter gained some steam, while construction spending held steady in May.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to a reading of 57.8 last month from 54.9 in May.

"Manufacturing PMI's are a good gauge of economic growth and have risen materially in the last year," said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede.

"Coupled with the ambitious balance sheet reduction plan, monetary policy tightening could prove a larger headwind than anticipated. Normalizing monetary policy is a good thing, but the Fed should be careful of the pace."

Tesla rose 2.3 percent after the luxury electric-car maker said it would deliver its mass-market Model 3 sedan to first 30 customers on July 28.

EQT Corp rose 2 percent after activist investor Jana Partners disclosed a 5.8 percent stake in the company and urged it to abandon its proposed acquisition of Rice Energy. Rice fell 4.4 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,055 to 741. On the Nasdaq, 1,504 issues rose and 1,197 fell.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D'Silva)