Wall St at record highs as tech, energy stocks rally

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - All three major U.S. stock indexes were on track to hit closing records on Monday, helped by gains in energy and other commodity-related shares and as Facebook led a jump in technology.

The indexes, all of which hit intraday record highs, have rallied since the Nov. 8 U.S. election, with investors snapping up shares of banks, health care and other companies expected to benefit from President-elect Donald Trump's policies.

The energy index <.SPNY> gained 2.1 percent to a 16-month high, dominating the gainers among the 11 major S&P sectors, as U.S. oil prices jumped 3.9 percent. Hopes that the OPEC would agree to an output cut next week lifted oil prices. The S&P materials index <.SPLRCM> was up 1 percent.

 

"I think the post-election rally is continuing," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. "There was some concern that rates might rise too far, but it looks like they may have slowed down a little bit."

"A lot of money came out of bond funds last week, and I think that can continue, given the spread between what stocks can do versus bonds."

The technology index <.SPLRCT>, which had dropped 0.4 percent since the election, was up 0.9 percent. Facebook rose 4 percent, giving the Nasdaq its biggest boost, after the company announced a $6-billion share buyback programme late Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 69.58 points, or 0.37 percent, to 18,937.51, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 13.45 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,195.35 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 40.88 points, or 0.77 percent, to 5,362.39.

A spate of tech deals also boosted sentiment in the sector and the broader market.

LifeLock surged 15.2 percent after Symantec said it would buy the identity theft protection company for $2.3 billion. Symantec rose 4.7 percent.

Applied Micro Circuits jumped 11 percent after Macom Tech said it would buy its fellow chipmaker for $770 million. Macom was off 4.1 percent.

Tyson Foods shares fell 14.2 percent after the meat processor forecast a lower-than-expected 2017 profit and said its CEO would step down.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.39-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 223 new highs and 19 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Nick Zieminski)