(Corrects to say Nasdaq closes at record high in first
paragraph, not extends winning streak to seven days)
* NYSE FANG+TM index hits record high
* Coty drops as demand for makeup products dwindles
* Take-Two tumbles as quarterly sales fall
By Herbert Lash
Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq ended at a new closing high on
Tusday but the broad market closed slightly lower as investors
rotated out of large-cap tech names into other sectors seen as
benefiting from President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion
stimulus bill.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq hit an all-time high for the fifth
consecutive session on early gains in Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc AAPL. ,
which later turned lower amid a shift in portfolio allocations.
The NYSE FANG+TM index .NYFANG , which includes Facebook
Inc FB.O , Netflix Inc NFLX.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O , rose to
an all-time high.
With the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases falling and
expectations the stimulus package will be approved in Congress,
investors are hard-pressed to find significant negatives, said
Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush
Securities in Los Angeles.
"You're not seeing money coming out of the market and going
into cash," James said. "You're seeing money coming out of one
sector and being rotated into another sector to maintain an
overall long bias."
Largely upbeat corporate earnings, along with monetary and
fiscal support, have powered the major U.S. stock indexes to
record highs. But analysts caution the new COVID variants and
any glitches in vaccine rollouts could sour positive sentiment.
"The backdrop is largely positive for stocks and I'm not
sure there could be a better backdrop for risk assets in the
near to intermediate term," said William Herrmann, co-founder
and managing partner at Wilshire Phoenix in New York City.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
10.72 points, or 0.03%, to 31,375.04, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
4.3 points, or 0.11%, to 3,911.29 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 20.06 points, or 0.14%, to 14,007.70.
The energy sector .SPNY , among those that led the recent
rally, slipped a bit, while communication services .SPLRCL
rose.
Data last week showing slower-than-expected jobs growth in
the labor market underscored the need for more government aid to
blunt the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden has said.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate continue to try to find a way
to include a minimum wage increase in a comprehensive COVID-19
relief bill they aim to advance in the coming weeks, Senate
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. Toymaker Mattel Inc MAT.O rose, while telephone equipment
maker Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O slipped ahead of reporting
earnings after market close.
Analysts forecast a fourth-quarter S&P earnings gain of
about 2.5%, a stark reversal from the 10.3% annual decline seen
at the beginning of the year, per Refinitiv.
Gucci lipstick maker Coty Inc COTY.N tumbled as weak
demand for makeup products wiped millions off its quarterly
revenue. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc TTWO.O fell after the
videogame publisher posted a drop in quarterly adjusted sales
and shied away from announcing any new big releases.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP fast approached the $50,000-mark as the
afterglow of Elon Musk-led Tesla's TSLA.O investment in the
cryptocurrency had investors reckoning it may become a
mainstream asset class for both corporations and money managers.
Cryptocurrency miner Riot Blockchain RIOT.O and Marathon
Patent Group MARA.O extended sharp gains for the second day,
but Tesla's shares dropped.