US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 close higher, but pro-Trump protests weigh on 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

(Adds official closing numbers, volume)
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 earlier 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. Lawmakers evacuated
after Trump supporters breached the building as police officers
stood watch. Some police responded with drawn guns and 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," 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/
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed 437.8 points
higher, or 1.44%, to 30,829.4, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 21.28
points, or 0.57%, to 3,748.14 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
dropped 78.17 points, or 0.61%, to 12,740.79.
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 positive for the markets."
The Russell 1000 value index .RLV , which is heavily
weighted toward cyclical sectors, rose 2.5%, while the growth
index .RLG , with a large tech company weighting, was down
1.1%.
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 2.9% higher at $755.98.
The small-cap Russell 2000 index .RUT jumped 4% 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 8.6% 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 4.5%. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.72-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.64-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 89 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 318 new highs and 9 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges hit 16.6 billion shares on
Wednesday, compared with the 11.39 billion average for the full
session over the last 20 trading days.