US STOCKS-Nasdaq hits record high close due to tech rally

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* Home improvement retailers seen getting sales boost
* Principia Biopharma at record high on Sanofi buyout
* Nvidia hits record high on PT raises

(Updates with closing prices)
By Noel Randewich
Aug 17 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq surged to a record high close
on Monday, while the S&P 500 approached its own record level,
with both indexes lifted by Nvidia and other technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX reached just shy of its Feb. 19
intraday record high after testing that level for much of last
week, while the Dow Jones .DJI was weighed down by losses in
financial and industrial stocks.
Nvidia Corp NVDA.O was among the top boosts to the S&P 500
and Nasdaq for the day, surging 6.7% to a record high after two
analysts raised their price targets ahead of the chipmaker's
quarterly results on Wednesday.
In June, the Nasdaq became the first of the major Wall
Street indexes to recoup its coronavirus-induced losses as
several of its largest constituents, including Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O and Netflix Inc NFLX.O , benefited from curbs on
social activity.
"Tech is the only trade," said Jake Dollarhide, chief
executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. "Things that were 10 years away on Feb. 18 are here
now: Distance learning, seeing your doctor via Zoom, ordering
pharmaceuticals via the mail."
Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N and Home Depot Inc HD.N each rose
more than 2% rose ahead of their earnings later in the week. The
two home improvement chains are expected to have received a bump
to their quarterly sales from consumers looking to do minor
repair work while spending more time at home.
The S&P 500 retailing index .SPXRT climbed 1.4%, with
heavyweights Walmart Inc WMT.N and Target Corp TGT.N also
set to report results this week.
"Earnings season in general has been much better than
expected, but a big part of that is because the expectation has
been so low," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at
Baird in Milwaukee.
Rackspace Technology RXT.O jumped over 10% after Reuters
reported Amazon is in early talks to invest in the cloud
services provider. As of Friday, 457 companies in the S&P 500 had posted
results, of which 81.4% came in above dramatically lowered
expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, due on
Wednesday, are expected to provide more insight into the central
bank's view of an economic recovery, while housing starts data
is also on tap.
Caution is expected to seep into markets ahead of the
November U.S. presidential vote, as the election season kicks
into higher gear with the Democratic National Convention, which
runs Monday through Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.31% to end at
27,844.91 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.27% to
3,381.99.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 1% to 11,129.73, its
fifth closing high this month.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with technology
.SPLRCT providing the biggest support to the S&P 500 index.
Principia Biopharma Inc PRNB.O surged 9.3% to a record
high after French healthcare firm Sanofi SA SASY.PA said it
would buy the company for about $3.7 billion. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.22-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.20-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 85 new highs and 12 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.9 billion shares, compared
with the 10.0 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.