US STOCKS-Financials, energy stocks lead Wall Street higher on recovery hopes

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* Nio falls on temporary production suspension
* L Brands hits over 4-year high on forecast boost
* Indexes up: Dow 0.49%, S&P 0.53%, Nasdaq 0.25%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
March 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes broadly rose
on Friday with technology, energy and financial stocks providing
the biggest boost as investors bet on what is expected to be the
fastest economic growth since 1984.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were set to end a choppy week higher
as an end-of-quarter rebalancing of investment portfolios led to
alternating boost from stocks that stand to benefit from a
re-opening economy, and beaten-down technology shares.
The S&P 500 value index .IVX , which includes energy, banks
and industrial stocks, has gained more than 10% this year,
easily outperforming growth .IGX shares, which are down about
1%.
"It is less a move out of technology than a move that
evidences a broader appetite for equities to include both growth
and value," said John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at
Oppenheimer Asset Management in New York.
L Brands LB.N jumped about 5.3% after the Victoria's
Secret owner raised its current-quarter profit forecast for the
second time this month as it benefits from consumers spending
their stimulus checks and relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.
Wall Street's main indexes rebounded in late-day rally on
Thursday as weekly jobless claims hit their lowest level since
the COVID-19 pandemic began and President Joe Biden highlighted
the brightening economic outlook. "It has been hard to restrain our U.S. growth forecast in
recent months. We've been upgrading our estimates almost as fast
as we lowered them a year ago," Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist
at Northern Trust, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.
Bank stocks .SPXBK added 1.2% as the U.S. Federal Reserve
said it would lift income-based restrictions on bank dividends
and share buybacks for "most firms" in June after its next round
of stress tests. Energy stocks .SPNY jumped 1.3%, tracking a boost in crude
prices after a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal
spurred fears of supply squeeze. O/R
Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors rose with only the
utilities .SPLRCU and communication services .SPLRCL indexes
in the red.
At 11:40 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 158.62 points, or 0.49%, at 32,778.10, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 20.81 points, or 0.53%, at 3,930.33. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 31.84 points, or 0.25%, at 13,009.52.
Nio Inc NIO.N slumped 6.8% as the Chinese electric vehicle
maker said it would halt production for five working days at its
Hefei plant due to a shortage in semiconductor chips.
Latest data showed U.S. consumer spending fell by the most
in 10 months in February as a cold snap gripped many parts of
the country and the boost from a second round of stimulus checks
faded, though the decline is likely to be temporary.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.69-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.40-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 50 new highs and 26 new lows.

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