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* Tesla up after announcing stock split
(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
Aug 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 jumped on Wednesday but
finished just short of its February record closing high, in a
broad rally led by tech stocks.
The index during the session traded above its record high
close of 3,386.15 from Feb. 19, before the onset of the
coronavirus crisis in the United States that caused one of Wall
Street's most dramatic crashes in history.
Heavyweights Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O and Apple Inc AAPL.O were among the top boosts to the
S&P 500.
The Nasdaq and Dow also rose sharply. The Nasdaq was the
first of the three major indexes to bounce back to an all-time
high in June. The Dow remains below its February peak.
With a better-than-feared second-quarter earnings season
largely over, investors are preparing for the risk of a closely
contested U.S. presidential election in the fall.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday picked Senator
Kamala Harris as his choice for vice president.
Investors also awaited news on stimulus talks. A breakdown
in bipartisan talks over the next federal aid bill to help tens
of millions of Americans suffering in the coronavirus pandemic
entered a fifth day, with neither side ready to resume
negotiations. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
1.03% to end at 27,971.9 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained
1.38% to 3,379.81.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 2.1% to 11,009.76.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O shares jumped, making it among the
biggest boosts for the Nasdaq, as it announced a five-for-one
stock split in an attempt to make its shares more accessible to
employees and investors.