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

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* S&P 500, Dow rise for 8th straight session
* Tech-laden Nasdaq slips for 3rd consecutive session
* Rotation from growth stocks to value extends
* Indexes up: Dow 0.97%, S&P 0.48%, Nasdaq 0.10%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Ambar Warrick
Aug 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 on Tuesday rose for an eighth
straight session and was within striking distance of its
February peak, a level 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%, coming within 5% of its
February peak.
Value stocks have outperformed tech-focused growth stocks
recently, reflecting market's confidence in improving economic
outlook. On Tuesday, the Russell 1000 value .RLV index rose
0.9%, while the Russell 1000 growth .RLG index edged up 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. "The probability that fiscal and monetary stimulus will
bridge the gap for the U.S. economy to reopen is going up, and
that's what markets like," said Tim Shaler, chief economist for
iTrustCapital in Newport Beach, California.
Also in focus are Sino-U.S. tensions ahead of high-stakes
trade talks in the coming weekend.
Financials .SPSY and industrials .SPLRCI , which have
lagged the benchmark index this year, provided the biggest boost
to the S&P 500 on Tuesday as it eyes its longest streak of gains
since April 2019.
At 12:41 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 16.01 points, or
0.48%, at 3,376.48, about 17 points shy of its high of 3,393.52.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 270.59 points, or
0.97%, at 28,062.03, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up
10.45 points, or 0.10%, at 10,978.81.
Airlines and cruise operators, which would benefit from a
full reopening of the economy, traded higher. The NYSE Arca
Airline index .XAL rose 4.9%, while Royal Caribbean Group
RCL.N , Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH.N and
Carnival Corp CCL.N gained between 4% and 6.5%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.13-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.56-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 41 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 82 new highs and nine new lows.