US STOCKS-Wall Street ends mixed as Treasury yields pause

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* FedEx jumps as profit soars on pandemic-fueled demand
* Banks drop as Fed to let leverage exemption expire
* Nike falls after sales miss estimates
* Indexes: Dow -0.71%, S&P 500 -0.06%, Nasdaq +0.76%

(Adds market details after close)
By Noel Randewich
March 19 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq ended higher on Friday,
lifted by Facebook and energy shares, while the S&P 500 lost
ground as U.S. Treasury yields took a break from a recent surge.
Reversing a recent trend, so-called growth stocks mostly
outperformed value stocks viewed as likely to benefit most as
the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
The yield on U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR , which has risen
sharply in the past seven weeks on growth expectations, hovered
near a 14-month peak at $1.742%. US/
"What we see today is a more stable rate environment across
the curve after multiple weeks of rising interest rates, and we
are seeing some degree of reversal of leadership in the equity
market," said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S.
Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.
Facebook Inc FB.O rallied 4.1% and provided the biggest
boost to the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 after Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg said Apple Inc's AAPL.O imminent privacy policy
changes on ad sales would leave the social network in a
"stronger position."
The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK dropped 1.6% after the U.S.
Federal Reserve said it would not extend a temporary capital
buffer relief put in place to ease a pandemic-driven stress in
the funding market. "Banks have had such a significant up move this year and
this news has only acted as a catalyst for profit taking," said
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New
York.
Optimism about a $1.9 trillion fiscal package and the Fed's
promise to maintain its ultra-loose policy stance for years has
accelerated a shift into economy-linked stocks, powering the S&P
500 and the Dow to record levels this week.
However, the Nasdaq is still about 6% below its Feb. 12
all-time closing high as technology and high-growth stocks have
lost favor in recent months, with their valuations looking less
attractive as Treasury yields rise.

The S&P 500 growth index rose 0.35%, outperforming the value
index's 0.48% dip.
Several bond managers believe the recent pace of the rise in
yields has been unsettling and also worry the market could be
viewed as disorderly if the momentum continues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.71% to end at
32,627.97 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.06% to
3,913.1.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 0.76% to 13,215.24.
For the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.8%, while the
Dow lost 0.5%.
Trading was orderly despite Friday being quadruple witching,
the once-in-a-quarter simultaneous expiration of various
derivatives, which often spurs heavy trading volume and some
volatility.
"I think you saw a lot of the movement yesterday with that
big selloff at the end of the day. A lot of that was to do with
people closing out positions," said JJ Kinahan, chief market
strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.5 billion shares, compared
with the 14.4 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.
Visa Inc V.N fell more than 6%, erasing almost $30 billion
of market capitalization after reports that the company is being
investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice.
FedEx Corp FDX.N rallied 6.1% after the U.S. delivery firm
said quarterly profit jumped more than expected on higher prices
and surging volume from pandemic-fueled e-commerce deliveries
during the holiday shipping season. Nike Inc NKE.N fell 4% after the sports apparel maker
missed quarterly sales estimates due to shipping issues and a
pandemic-related slump at brick-and-mortar stores. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.25-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.70-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 119 new highs and 26 new lows.

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Graphic-Nasdaq performance vs 10-year Treasury yield https://tmsnrt.rs/3tAfr48
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