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* Disney drops after strong results
* PayPal expands growth as brokerages are optimistic after investors’ day
* Energy stocks slip as oil prices fall on demand, they fear
* Indices: Dow flat, S&P up 0.17%, Nasdaq up 0.16% (Add price, details; update prices)
February 12 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 rose higher on Friday, recovering from early weakness as financial and material stocks gained ground, while investors maintained signs of progress in the next batch of tax relief.
Equity stocks outpaced large-cap stocks as investors favored denominations that could benefit from a reopened economy.
Major stock indices opened lower, weighed heavily by Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. The major averages are still headed for the second consecutive weekly gain.
Lipper data showed late Thursday that U.S. equity funds raised $ 22.9 billion a week through Wednesday, the highest weekly flow since March 2008.
US stock markets will close on Monday due to the presidents’ holiday.
“Most of those sales turned out to be just profits, just to see the market come back from any short-term sales,” said Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment firm in New Vernon, New Jersey. .
“The low interest rate, stimulus and improvement on the virus front give investors greater confidence to stay in the market and buy more.”
A sharp decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks have also led markets to historic highs. However, many analysts have warned of a short-term withdrawal amid the risks posed by new variants of coronavirus and potential swellings in the vaccine distribution.
The latest data showed that US consumer sentiment fell unexpectedly in early February, with households remaining concerned about the economy, despite expectations for an additional fiscal stimulus.
A Reuters poll showed that the US economy is expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels within a year, as the proposed $ 1.9 trillion fiscal package contributes to economic growth, but is likely to last more than a year. year for unemployment to fall to the levels of early 2020.
US President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of mayors and governors on Friday as he continues to push for approval of the strong aid plan.
Banking related to the economy rose by about 1.3%, while energy, materials and industries also rose by between 0.7% and 0.8%.
The low-capitalization index will rise for the fifth week out of six full weeks this year.
At 11:55 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.54 points, or 0.02%, to 31,425.16, the S&P 500 gained 6.81 points, or 0.17%, to 3,923, 19, and Nasdaq Composite rose 22.48 points or 0.16% to 14,048.25. .
PayPal Holdings Inc. rose about 3.8% as several brokerages raised their share price targets to one day after the payday investors’ daily call.
Walt Disney Co. reported a surprise quarterly profit. However, its shares fell 1.5% from a record high, after more than 13% reached its results in the last two weeks.
The dating application operator Bumble Inc gained 13%, a day after a stellar debut increased its shares by over 75%.
Tilray Inc and Aphria Inc gained 4% and 6% after almost halving the value in the previous session.
Advanced issues outnumbered decliners by 1.3 to 1 on the NYSE and by 1.4 to 1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 47 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq posted 307 new highs and 22 new lows. (Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)