US STOCKS-S&P 500 and Dow end session at record highs

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* Eli Lily drops after 'mixed' data from mid-stage trial
* Carriers signal recovery in leisure bookings
* Growth stocks beat value

(Updates with close of trading)
By Noel Randewich
March 15 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial
Average closed at a record highs on Monday, as investors eyed an
economic recovery from the coronavirus and awaited cues from the
Federal Reserve this week amid caution over rising borrowing
costs.
In a concrete sign that the worst of the damage from the
coronavirus pandemic may be over for the airline industry, Delta
Air Lines DAL.N , Southwest Airlines LUV.N and JetBlue
Airways JBLU.N said leisure bookings were rising. Gains in the major indexes accelerated near the end of the
trading session.
The S&P 1500 airlines index .SPCOMAIR jumped over 4% to a
one-year high, while other travel-related stocks, including
Carnival Corp CCL.N , Wynn Resorts WYNN.O and MGM Resorts
MGM.N jumped between 2% and 5%.
Nine of the 11 major S&P sector indexes rose, led by
utilities .SPLRCU and real estate .SPLRCR , each up more than
1%.
It was the Dow's sixth straight record high close in a
recent surge fueled by mass vaccinations and congressional
approval of a $1.9 trillion aid bill. Expectations of a recovery
accelerated demand for stocks expected to outperform as the
economy reopens, such as banks, energy, materials companies.
On Monday, the Russell growth index .RLG outperformed the
Russell value index .RLV in a modest reversal of investors'
recent trend away from technology and other high-growth stocks.
"With the vaccine positive news and the stimulus, we think
there will continue to be a fair amount of rotation out of the
stay-at-home stocks," said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments.
"We are bullish on financial services and energy coming out of
the pandemic."
The S&P 500 has gained almost 6% in 2021, while the Dow has
added nearly 8%.
At the end of Fed's two-day meeting on Wednesday,
policymakers are expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will
grow in 2021 at its fastest rate in decades while reiterating
their dovish stance for the foreseeable future. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR ticked
lower to 1.60%, below its 13-month peak of 1.64% on Friday. Wall
Street has been roiled in recent weeks by a spike in
longer-dated U.S. bond yields due to fears of an increase in
inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.53% to end at
32,953.46 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.65% to
3,968.94.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 1.05% to 13,459.71. It
remains down almost 5% from its Feb. 12 record high close.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.5 billion shares, compared
with the 14.5 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.
Tesla TSLA.O rose about 2% after the company dubbed Chief
Executive Elon Musk "Technoking of Tesla" in a formal regulatory
filing. Eli Lilly and Co shares LLY.N slumped 9.1% after a
mid-stage trial testing its experimental Alzheimer's drug led to
"mixed" results, reducing the chances for the drug's accelerated
approval, according to analysts. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.78-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 90 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 281 new highs and 15 new lows.