US STOCKS-S&P closes at record on tech boost as U.S. Treasury yields retreat

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* Tech leads sector gainers
* Growth stocks outperform value stocks
* Canopy Growth down on deal to buy Supreme Cannabis

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to market close)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed at a record
high on Thursday, as U.S. Treasury yields fell following
softer-than-anticipated labor market data, boosting technology
and other growth stocks.
Weekly initial jobless claims data showed a second straight
rise, conflicting with the recent payrolls report, and
buttressed the Federal Reserve's dovish policy stance to keep
interest rates lower for a substantial period. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled on Wednesday
the central bank is nowhere near reducing support for the U.S.
economy, saying an expected rise in prices this year is likely
to be temporary. The softer data helped yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S.
Treasury note fall as low as 1.628% for a second straight day as
it continues to back away from a 14-month high of 1.776% hit in
late March. "Wall Street rewards growth, that doesn't mean value names
will never go up, they will go up because they have more growth
prospects than their neighbors, that is what this whole thing is
predicated on," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at
Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.
"It was kind of ridiculous that bond yields were preceding
runaway inflation and that was not the case, so tech lives
another day."
[4:00 PM] Mikolajczak, Chuck (Reuters)
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
57.77 points, or 0.17%, to 33,504.03, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
17.27 points, or 0.42%, to 4,097.22 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 141.30 points, or 1.03%, to 13,830.14.
The recent pullback in yields has helped high growth names
such as those in technology .SPLRCT , the sector that posted
the session's biggest rise. Megacap stocks such as Apple
AAPL.O , Microsoft MSFT.O and Amazon AMZN.O were the
biggest boosts to the S&P 500.
The gains sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a seven-week high
and within 2% of its February 12 record closing high.
The Russell 1000 growth index .RLG , which consists heavily
of tech-related stocks, gained. Its value counterpart .RLV ,
comprising mostly financials and energy names, edged lower.
Trading activity has tapered off, with the three lowest
volume days of the year occurring this week ahead of
first-quarter earnings season next week with results from big
U.S. banks on tap. Analysts have raised expectations for
first-quarter S&P 500 earnings increase to 24.2%, according to
Refinitiv IBES data as of April 1, versus 21% forecast on Feb.
5.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O advanced on the Joe Biden
administration's $174 billion proposal to boost electric
vehicles. U.S. shares of Canopy Growth Corp CGC.O dropped on a deal
to buy rival Supreme Cannabis Co Inc FIRE.TO for C$323.3
million ($256.9 million), as the world's biggest cannabis
producer bolsters its portfolio to tap surging demand.