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* Moderna up as late-stage study for COVID-19 vaccine begins
* Hasbro tumbles after profit miss
* Senate Republicans likely to unveil $1 trillion aid
proposal
* Indexes up: Dow 0.28%, S&P 0.62%, Nasdaq 1.46%
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK dateline)
By Sinéad Carew
July 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were higher
on Monday as investors monitored progress in government stimulus
efforts along with rising U.S. COVID-19 cases and restrictions
around the world.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Facebook Inc
FB.O and Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O were among the top boosters of
the S&P 500 ahead of their quarterly reports due out this week.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq outperformed the S&P and the Dow.
U.S. Senate Republicans were expected on Monday to unveil a
$1 trillion coronavirus aid proposal, which would need to be
negotiated with Democrats before enhanced unemployment benefits
expire on Friday. Investors anxiously awaited a stimulus agreement, yet some
worried the aid package would provide insufficient support for
the economy in unemployment benefits particularly. These
concerns were reflected in gains in assets viewed as safe havens
such as the big growth companies and gold XAU= , according to
Kristina Hooper, Chief Global Market Strategist at Invesco in
New York.
"Today's story is about concerns that the economic recovery
will be slow and halting. That's from a combination of an
inability to bend the virus curve and what is shaping up to be a
small stimulus package that may not address all the needs being
created by this terrible crisis," said Hooper.
"We know the fragility of U.S. households and we also know
that much of the economic recovery we've seen so far can be
attributed to stimulus," she added.
Trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus have
been pivotal in bringing the S&P 500 to within 5% of its
February record high.
On Monday, as the world confronted the prospect of rising
COVID-19 infections, nations in Asia and Europe imposed new
restrictions.
In the United States, where infection rates have climbed
since June, two baseball games were canceled due to the virus
while President Donald Trump's national security adviser Robert
O'Brien was the most senior official to test positive.
Other concerns included a diplomatic row between the United
States and China, and an unexpected rise in U.S. jobless claims
last week. GOL/ At 2:24 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 73.1 points, or 0.28%, to 26,542.99, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 20.06 points, or 0.62%, to 3,235.69 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 151.62 points, or 1.46%, to 10,514.80.
The technology sector .SPLRCT , up more than 1%, was the
biggest percentage gainer among the S&P's 11 major sectors while
materials .SPLRCM was next, boosted by shares of gold miners.
Financials .SPSY , utilities .SPLRCU and energy .SPNY were
the only sectors in the red.
Investors maintained their focus on earnings, with 189 S&P
500 companies scheduled to report results this week. About 80%
of the 130 S&P 500 firms that have reported so far have beaten a
low bar of earnings estimates, according to IBES Refinitiv data.
Few expected any major announcement at a two-day Federal
Reserve meeting, but analysts said policymakers were likely to
lay the groundwork for more action later this year. Moderna Inc MRNA.O jumped 9% as it started a U.S.
government-backed late-stage trial to assess its COVID-19
vaccine candidate in about 30,000 adults. Hasbro Inc HAS.O dropped 7% after the toymaker missed
quarterly estimates due to production shutdowns during
coronavirus lockdowns. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.23-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 26 new lows.