REFILE-US STOCKS-Dow advances as stimulus bill nears finish line

(Corrects typo in headline)
* Disney gains as California allows theme parks to reopen
* Bank stocks advance as yields rise on stimulus bill
* GameStop jumps after tapping Ryan Cohen to lead transition
* Indexes: Dow rises 1.32%, S&P down 0.10%, Nasdaq down
2.01%

By Herbert Lash and Karen Pierog
March 8 (Reuters) - The Dow climbed on Monday, led by stocks
poised to benefit the most from an economic rebound as the $1.9
trillion COVID-19 relief bill awaited a final Congressional vote
this week, and heavyweight tech-related stocks swung between
gains and losses.
After the legislation won U.S. Senate approval on Saturday,
President Joe Biden said he hoped for a quick passage of the
revised coronavirus relief package by the Democrat-controlled
House of Representatives so he could sign it and send $1,400
direct payments to Americans. Prospects of more government spending and faster economic
growth have stoked fears of a spike in inflation, sending the
benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to near one-year highs.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, however, said on
Monday the package would fuel a "very strong" U.S. recovery and
she did not expect the economy to run too hot because of the
increased spending. The Dow hit a new record intraday high and was trading above
its Feb. 24 record close. In the S&P 500, the financial sector
.SPSY was the biggest boost, hitting a record as higher
interest rates and a steeper yield curve helped banks.
Industrials .SPLRCI were right behind, also reaching a record
high, while the materials sector .SPLRCM neared an all-time
peak. The technology .SPLRCT sector was deepest in the red.
"This is an ideal traders' market with certain sectors and
individual stocks performing better than the wider market, as
investors pick and choose individual stocks that will perform
better as the economy reopens," said Anthony Denier, chief
executive officer of trading platform Webull.
A slide in the big tech stocks that have driven the rally in
equities since pandemic-induced lows of last March continued,
with Apple Inc AAPL.O , Nvidia Corp NVDA.O , Tesla Inc
TSLA.O and Alphabet Inc's Google GOOGL.O leading declining
shares on Nasdaq.
Tech stocks are particularly sensitive to rising yields
because their value rests heavily on earnings in the future,
which are discounted more deeply when bond returns go up.
The divergence between the tech stocks and non-tech stocks
explains trading today, said Joe Saluzzi, partner and co-founder
of Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.
"The stimulus package will be certainly helping the bigger
cap names," Saluzzi said, referring to non-tech stocks. "The
get-out and non-stay at home stocks are doing better now," he
said.
By 3:09 p.m. ET (2009 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI rose 416.64 points, or 1.32%, to 31,912.94, the S&P 500
.SPX lost 3.83 points, or 0.10%, to 3,838.11 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC dropped 259.71 points, or 2.01%, to 12,660.44.
Banks .SPXBK added about 1.7% as the yield on the
benchmark 10-year note US10YT=TWEB stood near a 13-month high,
while airlines .SPCOMAIR jumped about 5%.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N jumped about 5.8% as California
health officials set new rules that would allow Disneyland and
other theme parks, stadiums and outdoor entertainment venues to
reopen as early as April 1. GameStop Corp GME.N surged about 33% after the company
said it had tapped shareholder Ryan Cohen to lead a transition
to an e-commerce business. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.68-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.28-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 124 new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 390 new highs and 21 new lows.

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GameStop shares surge 53%, other 'meme stocks' rally on stimulus
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