US STOCKS-S&P 500 rises on boost from bank shares

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* Technology, healthcare stocks slip
* Banks stocks surge as investors search for value
* Fed's Beige Book expected later in the day
* Indexes mixed: Dow 1.09%, S&P 0.44%, Nasdaq off 0.45%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
May 27 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 edged higher in choppy
trading on Wednesday as optimism over a pick up in business
activity helped offset worries over simmering U.S.-China
tensions, although gains were capped by losses in technology
stocks.
Bank stocks .SPSY , which typically track improvements in
the economic outlook, provided the biggest boost to the
benchmark index, sending it past the psychologically important
mark of 3,000 points in intraday trading for the second day.
In contrast, heavyweights Amazon.com AMZN.O , Microsoft
Corp MSFT.O and Facebook Inc FB.O , which have led a recent
rally, were down between 1% and 2%, while healthcare .SPXHC
and technology .SPLRCT - outperformers in the coronavirus-led
market slump - were among the S&P 500 sectors in the red.
"The managers that have missed this rally off the bottom are
desperately panicking to find value and now they are starting to
do it with banks," said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great
Hill Capital LLC in New York.
"In the last couple of days, the reopening and the recovery
have started to feel real for people and that goes a long way
for confidence, both at the consumer level and in market
sentiment as well."
The easing of lockdowns, optimism about an eventual COVID-19
vaccine and massive U.S. stimulus have powered a recent stock
market rally, helping the S&P 500 .SPX end on Tuesday at its
highest level since early March.
However, Sino-U.S. worries have kept a lid on further gains.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington would
announce its response to China's planned national security
legislation on Hong Kong before the end of the week.
At 12:52 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 273.62 points, or 1.09%, at 25,268.73 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 13.02 points, or 0.44%, at 3,004.79.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 41.69 points, or
0.45%, at 9,298.53.
Facebook Inc FB.O and Twitter Inc TWTR.N slipped 2% and
3.3%, respectively, as Trump threatened to shutter social media
companies a day after Twitter prompted readers to fact check
some of his tweets.
Investor attention will now turn to the U.S. Federal
Reserve's Beige Book of economic condition scheduled for release
at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.09-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.34-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and no new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 30 new highs and seven new lows.