US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 close higher, but pro-Trump protests pare gains

* Democrats move closer to Senate control
* Pro-Trump protests hit Washington
* Tech behemoths slide on fears of tighter regulation
* Industrials, banks climb on stimulus hopes
* Small-cap Russell 2000 at all-time high

(Updates to close, adds new comment)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The Dow and the S&P 500 ended
higher, soaring to all-time highs on Wednesday, as investors
piled into financial and industrial stocks on bets a Democratic
sweep in Georgia would lead to more fiscal stimulus and
infrastructure spending.
But Wall Street pared gains and the Nasdaq index closed
lower after swarms of protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on
Wednesday as they sought to force Congress to undo President
Donald Trump's election loss to Joe Biden. Police in the U.S.
Capitol on responded with drawn guns and some tear
gas. "It hasn't been a sharp market drop. There have been buyers
coming in as well. This is a bit shocking visually to see this
unfold on television for investors," said Tim Ghriskey, chief
investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.
Before the pro-Trump protests, financials .SPSY hit a
1-year high and were still higher on the day, while materials
.SPLRCM , industrial .SPLRCI and energy .SPNY sectors held
their gains.
Rate-sensitive bank shares .SPXBK also rose, tracking a
surge in the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield above 1%.
US/
Democrats won one U.S. Senate race in Georgia and led in
another, moving closer to a surprise sweep in a former
Republican stronghold that would give them control of Congress
and the power to advance President-elect Joe Biden's policy
goals. A final outcome is not expected until later on Wednesday.
As this developed, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence opened a
joint session of Congress to formally certify Democratic
President-elect Joe Biden's victory, rejecting President Donald
Trump's demand that he unilaterally reject electoral votes.
A Democrat-controlled Senate, meanwhile, typically ushers in
increased fiscal spending while raising the chances of tax hikes
and tougher regulation, and would be a net positive for economic
growth globally and thus for most risk assets. "People are focused on the stimulus that will come," said
Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager, at GLOBALT Investments in
Atlanta. "The question is how big will that be and what would be
contained in it. But anytime you have additional money to be
spent, that's a positve for the markets."
The Russell 1000 value index .RLV , which is heavily
weighted toward cyclical sectors, rose, while the growth index
.RLG , with a large tech company weighting, was down.
Increased risk of antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech pressured
shares of companies, with Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Google-parent Alphabet Inc
GOOGL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O falling.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O was the only major technology stock
trading higher.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
437.8 points, or 1.44%, to 30,829.4, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
21.34 points, or 0.57%, to 3,748.2 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 78.17 points, or 0.61%, to 12,740.79.
The small-cap Russell 2000 index .RUT jumped after earlier
hitting a record high.
Hopes of a vaccine-powered economic recovery in 2021 pushed
Wall Street's main indexes to record highs in late-December,
with sectors that had previously lagged, including banks,
industrials and energy, fueling the rally.
AmerisourceBergen Corp ABC.N gained after the U.S. drug
wholesaler said it would buy Walgreens Boots Alliance's WBA.O
drug distribution business for $6.5 billion to expand in Europe.
Dow component Walgreens rose.