US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow hit all-time highs on stimulus, vaccine hopes

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* Energy, financials lead sectoral gains
* Defensive real estate, utilities slip
* Lowe's jumps on $15 bln share buy-back plan
* Indexes: Dow up 0.2%, S&P 500 up 0.1%, Nasdaq down 0.1%

(Updates to open)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
Dec 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow scaled record
highs on Wednesday as hopes of a working COVID-19 vaccine and
fresh economic stimulus before the end of the year lifted demand
for economically sensitive energy and financial shares.
Seven of the 11 major S&P indexes were higher, with energy
.SPNY leading gains as crude prices climbed on hopes of a
recovery in fuel demand. Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and
Chevron Corp CVX.N gained 1% in early trading.
Investors are banking on a long-awaited relief package to
mitigate the economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic that has
led to millions of layoffs and overwhelmed the healthcare
system.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he expected Democrats
and Republicans to work out most of the key details of the new
aid package on Wednesday. "The market remains very optimistic that some sort of a
stimulus deal would be cut before the end of the year, and that
would indicate the economy may not falter or wind up in a
double-dip recession," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Positive updates on COVID-19 vaccine development have also
recently lifted Wall Street's main indexes, with investors
swapping perceived safe-haven technology shares for industrial
and banking stocks, which generally benefit most from an
economic rebound.
On Wednesday, the S&P financials sector .SPSY gained 0.3%,
while industrial stocks .SPLRCI added 0.2%.
By 10:08 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 44.64 points, or 0.15%, at 30,218.56, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 4.49 points, or 0.12%, at 3,707.08, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 7.67 points, or 0.06 %, at 12,575.94.
With overall valuations now at extremely high levels, some
investors worry stocks could be more vulnerable to any bad news
such as unexpected setbacks in the roll-out of coronavirus
vaccines or delays in stimulus. Major U.S. banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N and Morgan
Stanley Inc MS.N jumped nearly 2%, while travel stocks, which
have been battered by the pandemic, also clocked sharp gains.
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N and American Airlines Group Inc
AAL.O climbed 2.4% and 3.1%.
Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N jumped 4.9%
and was among the top percentage gainers on the benchmark S&P
500 after announcing a new $15 billion share repurchase plan.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 2.2-to-1 on the NYSE
and 1.5-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 330 new highs and four new lows.