US STOCKS-Wall Street rises, Nasdaq hits record high on recovery hopes

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* Trump says will leave if Biden wins Electoral College vote
* Volatility dips to levels last seen in February
* U.S. stock market to close early; trading to remain thin
* Indexes up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 0.36%, Nasdaq 1.08%

(Adds comments; updates prices)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Sagarika Jaisinghani
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose and the
tech-heavy Nasdaq hit a record high on Friday as optimism around
an economic rebound next year outweighed fears of an expected
surge in coronavirus infections following the Thanksgiving
holiday.
Five of the 11 major S&P indexes were up by mid-morning,
with information technology .SPLRCT jumping 0.8% on demand for
stay-at-home winners Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O
and Nvidia Corp NVDA.O .
Sentiment was also lifted by President Donald Trump saying
he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for
President-elect Joe Biden, the closest he has come to conceding
the Nov. 3 election, market participants said. "While it was certainly the expectation of the vast majority
of traders that there would be an easy transfer of power, at the
end of the day it gives a little bit of confidence," said Rick
Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey.
Market volatility, as measured by the CBOE volatility index
.VIX , slipped to levels last seen in late-February. Trading
volumes are expected to be light as the U.S. stock market closes
early on Friday.
By 11:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 0.19%, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 0.36% and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 1.08%.
Hopes of more stimulus, signs of progress in developing
COVID-19 vaccines and encouraging economic data have lifted the
three main U.S. stock indexes by more than 10% this month and
set the S&P 500 on course for its best November ever.
A rotation into sectors deemed to benefit from an economic
recovery, such as industrials .SPLRCI and financials .SPSY ,
has also powered the Dow to record highs and put it on track for
its biggest monthly gain since 1987.
But with the next fiscal stimulus package now expected only
after Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, traders said the nascent
economic rebound could slow again.
"We have been waiting for stimulus forever and the market's
certainly expecting something," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of
trading at Themis Trading LLC in New Jersey, adding that "it
will probably take even longer."
All eyes will be on the monthly employment report on Dec. 4,
with economists polled by Reuters expecting unemployment to dip
to 6.8% from 6.9%, but to remain above the 4.5% rate in March,
before much of the U.S. economy went into lockdown. In thin company news, U.S.-listed shares of iQIYI Inc IQ.O
fell 2.3% after Reuters reported Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
BABA.N and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) had put on hold talks to buy a
controlling stake in the video streaming service. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.11-to-1 on the NYSE
and 1.36-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 127 new highs and seven new lows.