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* S&P 500 on track for best November since 1980
* Tesla market value crosses $500 billion
* Indexes up: Dow 1.29%, S&P 0.95%, Nasdaq 0.32%
(Updates to open)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped on
Tuesday and the blue-chip Dow hit a record high as the formal
go-ahead for President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White
House ended weeks of political uncertainty.
All the 11 major S&P indexes were up, with
economically-sensitive sectors such as banks .SPSY ,
industrials .SPLRCI and energy .SPNY leading gains as
investors rotated out of technology heavyweights that were seen
as safe bets during the recession.
The Dow .DJI was lifted by a 4.9% rise in Boeing BA.N
after European regulators gave draft approval to its 737 MAX
jets, paving the way for a formal flight clearance in January.
"Today, the market is going to largely focus on the new
administration's steps going forward," said Robert Pavlik,
senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in New York.
After weeks of legal challenges by the Trump campaign to
overturn the election result, the U.S. federal agency that must
sign off on the presidential transition told Biden on Monday
that he can formally begin the hand-over process. Sentiment was also boosted on reports that Biden planned to
nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury
Secretary, which could shift the focus heavily toward efforts to
tackle growing economic inequality. Tesla Inc TSLA.O jumped 3.3%, with the electric-car maker
crossing $500 billion in market capitalization as investors
lapped up its shares in the run-up to its addition to the S&P
500 index. At 10:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 381.55 points, or 1.29%, at 29,972.82, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 34.06 points, or 0.95%, at 3,611.65, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 37.95 points, or 0.32%, at 11,918.58.
Recent data suggesting a COVID-19 vaccine could be available
before the end of the year has put the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX
on course for its best November since 1980 and brought the Dow
close to breaching 30,000 points for the first time.
BlackRock Inc, the world's largest asset manager, on Monday
upgraded U.S. equities to "overweight", turning bullish on
quality large-cap technology companies and small cap firms that
tend to perform well during a cyclical upswing. "There is a lot of interest in industrials, basic materials,
financials - that's what you are supposed to buy for the text
books when the economy is indicating that it's going to enter
into a rebound or an expansion cycle," Pavlik said.
The S&P value index .IVX , which includes
economically-sensitive sectors such as financials and
industrials, has gained about 12% so far in November compared
with a 9% rise in the S&P 500. By contrast, the growth index
.IGX , comprising the technology mega-caps, is up less than 8%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 3.94-to-1 on the NYSE
and 2.01-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 43 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 146 new highs and four new lows.
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