US STOCKS-Wall Street pauses at record highs after Biden inauguration

* U.S. weekly jobless claims at elevated levels
* Growth stocks outperform value names
* United Airlines slips on fourth straight quarterly loss
* Dow up 0.07%, S&P 500 up 0.12%, Nasdaq up 0.53%

(Adds comment; updates share prices; adds New York dateline;
changes byline)
By Echo Wang
Jan 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged up to
record highs on Thursday, propelled by optimism about more
pandemic relief under the Biden administration to support the
economy after data showed a tepid labor market recovery.
The number of Americans filing new applications for
unemployment benefits dipped to 900,000 last week but still
remained stubbornly high as the COVID-19 pandemic tears through
the nation, raising the risk that the economy will shed jobs for
a second straight month in January. other data showed the housing and manufacturing sectors
as areas of strength to help buttress the economy.
"The market is hopeful that the Biden administration will
continue to increase fiscal stimulus. Because interest rates and
inflation haven't accelerated, this is giving him confidence
that he could do even more," said Michael Arone, chief
investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
By 2:08 p.m. ET (1908 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI rose 21.19 points, or 0.07%, to 31,209.57, the S&P 500
.SPX gained 4.75 points, or 0.12%, to 3,856.6.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 71.238 points, or 0.53%
to 13,528.486, boosted by a jump in shares of megacap stocks
such as Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O and
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O ahead of their earnings reports in the
coming weeks.
It follows Netflix Inc's NFLX.O blowout results on
Wednesday that revitalized the "stay-at-home" beneficiaries,
adding $262 billion in overall market capitalization to the
FAANG group of stocks.
"It's interesting that the stay-at-home technology companies
have retaken leadership. It shows that there are concerns that
exiting the pandemic will be a bit bumpier and might take
longer," Arone added.
In a reversal of the trend earlier this month, the Russell
1000 growth index .RLG , which includes technology stocks, is
this week far outperforming the Russell 1000 value index .RLV ,
which is heavily comprised of cyclical stocks such as financials
and energy.
President Joe Biden has launched some initiatives during his
initial days in office, including ramping up testing and vaccine
rollouts. Technology .SPLRCT , consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and
communication services .SPLRCL which includes Alphabet and
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), were the only S&P sectors in green.
Energy .SPNY , financial .SPSY and industrial .SPLRCI
stocks, which have helped the S&P 500 rally 14% since the Nov. 3
presidential election, were among the weaker sectors for the
session.
With valuations near a 20-year high, corporate results could
present an important test of whether the stock market rally has
run ahead of fundamentals. Earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to rise by 24% in
2021 after falling 15% in 2020, according to Refinitiv data as
of Jan. 15.
United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL.O dropped 5.29% after
posting a fourth straight quarterly loss due to the COVID-19
pandemic but said it aims to cut about $2 billion of annual
costs through 2023. Ford Motor Co F.N jumped 6.72% extending gains for a
second straight day after Deutsche Bank raised its price target
on the U.S. automaker's stock.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.30-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 180 new highs and five new lows.


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