US STOCKS-S&P 500 nears record high as stimulus bets climb

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* S&P 500, Dow rise for the 8th session in a row
* Tech-laden Nasdaq slips for 3rd straight session
* Rotation from growth stocks to value extends
* Dow up 1.18%, S&P up 0.46%, Nasdaq down 0.14%

(Adds quote, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Ambar Warrick
Aug 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed in on its February
peak on Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before the onset
of the coronavirus crisis that caused one of Wall Street's most
dramatic crashes in history.
The benchmark index was about half a percent below the
all-time high it hit on Feb. 19, when investors started dumping
shares in anticipation of what proved to be the biggest slump in
the U.S. economy since the Great Depression.
Ultra-low interest rates, trillions of dollars in stimulus
and, more recently, a better-than-feared second-quarter earnings
season have allowed all three of Wall Street's main indexes to
recover.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC has led the charge, boosted by
"stay-at-home winners" Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Netflix Inc
NFLX.O and Apple Inc AAPL.O . The index was down about 0.1%.
The blue-chip Dow .DJI surged 1.2%, coming within 5% of
its February peak.
Value stocks outperformed tech-focused growth stocks on
Tuesday, reflecting market's confidence in improving economic
outlook. The Russell 1000 value .RLV index rose 1%, while the
Russell 1000 growth .RLG index fell 0.1%.
"COVID-19 really turned the light switch off on the economy
- it happened very quickly - and the hope is that by and large,
once we get a vaccine and distribute it to the masses, that we
turn the switch back on," said John Petrides, portfolio manager
at Tocqueville Asset Management in New York.
Aiding sentiment, President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia
had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory
approval to a COVID-19 vaccine. But the approval has concerned
some experts as the vaccine still must complete final trials.
Investors are now hoping Republicans and Democrats will
resolve their differences and agree on another relief program to
support about 30 million unemployed Americans, as the battle
with the virus outbreak was far from over with U.S. cases
surpassing 5 million last week. Also in focus are Sino-U.S. tensions ahead of high-stakes
trade talks in the coming weekend.
"Certainly the rhetoric from Washington has been negative
with regards to China ... there's plenty of things to worry
about, but markets are really focused more on the very easy
fiscal and monetary policies at this point," said Paul Nolte,
portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
Financials .SPSY , energy .SPNY and industrial .SPLRCI
sectors, that have lagged the benchmark index this year,
provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500 on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 was set to rise for the eighth straight session,
its longest streak of gains since April 2019.
At 11:19 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 15.33 points, or
0.46%, at 3,375.80, about 18 points shy of its high of 3,393.52.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 326.68 points, or
1.18%, at 28,118.12. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 14.96
points, or 0.14%, at 10,953.40.
Royal Caribbean Group RCL.N rose 3.7% after it hinted at
new safety measures aimed at getting sailing going again after
months of cancellations. Peers Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
Ltd NCLH.N and Carnival Corp CCL.N also rose.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.19-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 40 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 78 new highs and seven new lows.