US STOCKS-Wall St gains, S&P 500 on track for 6th straight record closing high

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* Dow now in positive territory for the year
* Indexes on track for weekly gains
* Coca-Cola, United Airlines lifted by cost-cutting, job
cuts
* Indexes up: Dow 0.32%, S&P 0.30%, Nasdaq 0.40%

(Updates to late afternoon; changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street advanced on Friday
pushed higher by technology stocks, with the S&P 500 on track
for its sixth record closing high since confirming a bull market
on Aug. 18.
The gains also put the Nasdaq on a course for an all-time
closing high and pushed the blue-chip Dow into positive
territory for the year.
The S&P 500 is close to wrapping up what appears to be its
best August in 34 years.
All three major U.S. stock indexes looked set to end the
week higher than last Friday's close, marking the fifth
consecutive weekly gains for the S&P and the Nasdaq.
"Tech continues to lead but again we're encouraged that the
Dow is now green for the year, so other areas are starting to
come back, trying to catch up," Ryan Detrick, senior market
strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. "But
tech is still the true champ."
"It's an uneven, K-shaped recovery," Detrick added. "It
shows how divided the economy is, and the companies that can
succeed in this environment are gaining."
Economic data released before the bell showed American
consumers, who account for about 70% of the U.S. economy,
increased their spending more than expected in July but the
savings rate, a barometer of consumer uncertainty, remained
elevated well above pre-pandemic levels. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) core index,
which excludes food and energy, rose at a rate of 1.3%
year-on-year. On Thursday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell unveiled a new monetary strategy adopting an average
annual inflation target of 2%, implying the central bank could
keep key interest rates near zero even if inflation rises above
its target. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 90.71 points,
or 0.32%, to 28,582.98, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 10.47 points,
or 0.30%, to 3,495.02 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
46.06 points, or 0.4%, to 11,671.40.
Energy stocks .SPNY had the largest percentage gain among
the major S&P sectors, rising 1.3% after Hurricane Laura passed
through the Gulf region without causing widespread damage and
oil rigs and refineries began to restart operations.
United Airlines UAL.O and Coca-Cola Co KO.N rose 2.5%
and 2.3%, respectively as they prepared for cost-cutting efforts
including furloughs and voluntary separations. But tech companies continue to benefit from companies
shifting to a work-from-home model.
Business software company Workday Inc WDAY.O jumped 14.5%
after raising its annual subscription forecast and Dell
Technologies Inc DELL.N rose 6.2% following its quarterly
profit beat.
Walmart Inc WMT.N announced it was joining Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O in its bid for TikTok's U.S. assets from Chinese owner
ByteDance. Shares of Walmart and Microsoft were up 2.4% and 0.5%,
respectively.
Nutanix Inc NTNX.O jumped 29.1% after the cloud service
provider beat earnings expectations and Bain Capital invested
about $750 million in the company.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.79-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.41-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 14 new lows.