US STOCKS-Recovery rally drives Dow to new peak

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* Bank, energy stocks gain on prospects of more stimulus
* Crypto stocks jump as Bitcoin briefly surges past $50,000
* Indexes: Dow up 0.06%, S&P down 0.1%, Nasdaq slips 0.4%

(Adds comment; updates market prices)
By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Feb 16 (Reuters) - The Dow hit an all-time high on Tuesday,
while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq retreated slightly from record
levels, as investors bet on more fiscal aid to lift the world's
biggest economy from a coronavirus-driven slump.
Sectors poised to benefit the most from a reopening economy,
including energy .SPNY and financial .SPSY , gained the most.
The banking index .SPXBK jumped 2.6% as the yield on 10-year
U.S. Treasuries US10YT=RR hit their highest since February
last year. US/
"The reflation trade continues to push equity markets across
all industries and multi-caps ... and this rally could continue
in the near-term," said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets at
Citizens Bank in Boston.
"It has been a bit of parabolic run up here so we may be due
for a correction but it is hard to see a catalyst for that at
the moment just because there is so much stimulus, both monetary
and fiscal and the anticipation of more fiscal measures."
President Joe Biden will travel to Wisconsin on Tuesday to
press his case for a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill in the
political battleground state that helped secure his victory in
last year's presidential election. The S&P value index .IVX , which includes bank, energy and
industrial sectors, has risen more than 6% in the past two
weeks, slightly outperforming the growth index .IGX , which is
skewed more toward technology.
At 12:03 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 20.43 points, or 0.06% , to 31,478.83, while the S&P 500
.SPX lost 3.39 points, or 0.09 %, to 3,931.44.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 48.93 points, or 0.35%, to
14,046.54, weighed down by technology heavyweights Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O .
A sharp drop in new coronavirus infections, progress in
vaccinations and a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter
earnings season have also reinforced hopes of a quick business
recovery this year.
However, market participants fear a delay in vaccine
distributions and new coronavirus variants could lead to a
near-term pullback in equities.
The U.S. timeline for vaccinations against the deadly
COVID-19 coronavirus will now stretch into late May or early
June due to a limited supply of vaccines and the slow rollout of
Johnson & Johnson's JNJ.N shot, said Anthony Fauci, a key
member of the White House coronavirus task force. This week's earnings reports from Hilton Worldwide Holdings
Inc HLT.N , Hyatt Hotels Corp H.N , Marriott International Inc
MAR.O , Norwegian Cruise Lines NCLH.N and TripAdvisor Inc
TRIP.O will be closely watched for signs of a pickup in global
travel demand. Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms
including Silvergate Capital Corp SI.N , Riot Blockchain
RIOT.O and Marathon Patent Group MARA.O jumped between 6.7%
and 12% as bitcoin BTC=BTSP briefly surged past $50,000.
Investors will also focus this week on the minutes from the
Federal Reserve's January meeting, where it reaffirmed its
pledge to maintain a dovish policy stance.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1-to-1 ratio on
the NYSE and on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 72 new 52-week highs and no new lows
while the Nasdaq recorded 564 new highs and 11 new lows.