S&P, Nasdaq rise after two days of losses; Dow slips

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

REUTERS - The S&P and the Nasdaq rose for the first time in three days, helped by gains in healthcare and consumer staples stocks, but the Dow was weighed down by Goldman Sachs.

Major Wall Street indexes have hit a series of record highs after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election as investors bet that his policies would be market friendly.

The post-election rally was led by bank and industrial sectors, which would benefit from simpler regulations and higher fiscal spending.

The S&P 500 financial index has risen 13 percent since the Nov. 8 vote, while industrials rose 7.5 percent.

In contrast, defensive sectors such as utilities and consumer staples as well as technology stocks have struggled.

A report from the U.S. Labor Department showed that employers in private and public sectors hired more people last month than economists had expected, adding to the prospects of an interest rate hike when the Federal Reserve meets in the coming weeks.

However, investor reaction to Friday's jobs report was muted as investors appeared to have already priced in a hike this month.

Wall Street believes that the Fed is going to raise interest rates in December regardless of Friday's jobs data, given the sustained growth in the labor market, said Mark Cabana, head of U.S. short rates strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.

At 11:06 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was down 6.26 points, or 0.03 percent, at 19,185.67.

The S&P 500 was up 5.19 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,196.27 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 13.21 points, or 0.25 percent, at 5,264.32.

Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, while financials took the biggest hit, with a 0.68 percent drop.

Goldman Sachs fell for the first time in four days, weighing the most on the Dow, while Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo were the top drags on the S&P.

"The move in financials is nothing more than people taking some profits after a strong run," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Starbucks fell 2.4 percent to $57.11 after the coffee chain operator said Howard Schultz would step down as chief executive officer.

Pandora surged more than 10 percent after CNBC reported the internet radio company was in talks to sell itself to Sirius XM.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,780 to 1,026. On the Nasdaq, 1,504 issues rose and 1,113 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 11 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 54 new highs and 36 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)