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* Prison operator GEO tumbles on dividend suspension
* "Some time" before substantial progress seen on goals -
Fed
* Dow down 0.03%, S&P 500 up 0.14%, Nasdaq up 0.07%
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to include Fed minutes, changes byline, adds NEW YORK dateline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq
slightly added to gains while the Dow pared declines on
Wednesday the Federal Reserve released minutes from last month's
meeting that reinforced the U.S. central bank's position that it
will be patient before raising rates.
The major indexes held near unchanged for most of the day
but the S&P 500 climbed to a session high after the minutes, in
which Fed officials said it would likely take "some time" for
substantial further progress on goals of maximum employment and
stable prices. The rise in stock prices was muted, analysts said, because
many investors still doubt whether the Fed will hold off on
raising rates as long as the minutes indicated.
"Everyone is trying to figure out what the Fed is going to
do and the futures markets think the Fed is going to raise rates
earlier than the Fed says they are going to," said Thomas
Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in
Atlanta, Georgia.
"That is going to take a while to work out, the market has
been wrong before but also the Fed has followed the market
before."
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
10USYT=RR edged higher after the minutes. Still, it has been
backing away from a 14-month high of 1.776% hit on March 30. The
pullback in yields has helped growth names and lifted technology
.SPLRCT and communication services .SPLRCL stocks on the
day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 11.09 points,
or 0.03%, to 33,419.15, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 5.64 points,
or 0.14%, to 4,079.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
9.92 points, or 0.07%, to 13,708.30.
Value stocks, which include economically sensitive sectors
such as materials .SPLRCM and industrials <>SPLRCI>, maintain
a strong lead this year over their growth counterparts,
dominantly tech-related firms.
However, a resurgence in demand for tech stocks in recent
sessions amid renewed restrictions in Canada and parts of Europe
has raised questions over the longevity of value trade.
Growth stocks .RLG outperformed value shares .RLV on
Wednesday.
The upcoming earnings season and progress in a
multitrillion-dollar infrastructure proposal could decide Wall
Street's path forward.
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.
But the sharp run up in earnings expectations could leaved
the market primed for disappointment. JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N Chief Executive Officer Jamie
Dimon said the United States could be in store for an economic
boom through 2023 if more adults get vaccinated and federal
spending continues.
Prison operator GEO Group GEO.N fell 19.55% after
suspending quarterly dividend payments. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.33-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.94-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 26 new lows.
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1-year spread between growth and value stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/38Kf52d
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