US STOCKS-S&P, Nasdaq close at record highs in tech-fueled rally

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* Apple rises on reports of orders for 75 mln 5G iPhones
* Zoom surges after raising annual revenue forecast
* Walmart advances after unveiling membership plan details
* Indexes up: Dow 0.76%, S&P 0.75%, Nasdaq 1.39%

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By Sinéad Carew
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq boasted
record closing highs on Tuesday with technology leading the
charge as Apple and Zoom Video soared while economic data and
moves toward stimulus talks in Washington helped fuel optimism.
Tuesday's rally added to Wall Street's fifth straight
monthly gain and the S&P 500's strongest August advance in more
than three decades, which was also mostly thanks to technology
stocks and central bank support.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose just under 4% on Tuesday, a day
after its stock split and after a report said the company had
asked suppliers to make at least 75 million 5G iPhones for later
this year. Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM.O surged 40.8% after the
videoconferencing company raised its annual revenue forecast by
more than 30% as it converted more of its huge free user base to
paid subscriptions. Along with Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , it provided Nasdaq's biggest boost for the day.
Investors cited technology momentum as the primary reason
for Tuesday's gains, with some help from data and politics.
Tech companies have benefited from the pandemic-induced
work-from-home trends and lower interest rates, said Greg
Boutle, U.S. head of equity & derivative strategy at BNP Paribas
in New York.
"At the moment the market is seeing a lot of positive
momentum," said Boutle, so "if you get OK-to-good data and
anything from the political landscape that looks like it's
moving more toward a compromise, that's constructive for
markets."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would
telephone House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about stalled coronavirus
aid negotiations later on Tuesday and White House chief of staff
Mark Meadows said he expects Senate Republicans to bring up a
targeted COVID-19 relief bill next week. Earlier in the day ISM data showed U.S. factory activity
expanded for the third straight month to a reading of 56.0 in
August, the highest since November 2018. The figures follow
encouraging manufacturing surveys from China and Europe earlier
in the day. However, employment continued to lag, according to ISM data,
supporting views that the labor market recovery was losing
momentum. Investors will keep a close eye on the monthly U.S.
jobs report due on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 215.61 points,
or 0.76%, to close at 28,645.66, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 26.34
points, or 0.75%, to 3,526.65 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
added 164.21 points, or 1.39%, to 11,939.67.
The S&P ended the session more than 4% above its pre-crisis
record, reached in February, while the Nasdaq finished 21.7%
above its February peak in its 42nd closing high for 2020. The
blue-chip Dow, meanwhile, was still 3% under its record.
Of the S&P's 11 major sectors the biggest percentage gainers
were materials .SPLRCM , information technology .SPLRCT and
consumer discretionary .SPLRCD
But some strategists cautioned there could be more market
volatility ahead as U.S. politics will take center stage in the
coming weeks. Republican President Donald Trump, who is running
for re-election against Democratic presidential nominee Joe
Biden, has seen his polling gap with the former vice president
narrow recently. "There's still a lot of uncertainty mostly around the
pandemic but also some uncertainty around the election. The
closer we get to that election the more volatility we'll see in
the market," said Veronica Willis, investment strategy analyst
at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in St. Louis.
Walmart rose more than 6% after the retailer unveiled the
perks of its new loyalty program, Walmart Plus. Tesla Inc TSLA.O fell 4.7% after the electric-car maker
announced plans to raise up to $5 billion through a share sale
program a day after its 5-for-1 stock split. On U.S. exchanges 8.93 billion shares changed hands compared
with the 9.14 billion average for the last 20 sessions.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.62-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.20-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 118 new highs and 42 new lows.