REUTERS: U.S. stocks gained on Friday, helped by a rise in economy-sensitive cyclical sectors, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on track to end the week on a dull note as investors rotated out of technology-related companies.
"You see the cyclical trade in terms of the types of companies that will do better as the economy continues to improve, and as vaccines continue to be distributed across the country."Strong earnings, progress in vaccination roll-outs and hopes of a US$1.9 trillion federal stimulus package helped U.S. stock indexes hit record highs at the start of the week.
"What we saw represents a market that is tired and may not do very much. So we are headed for some sort of a pullback, but I don't think we're there just yet," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.Meanwhile, data showed IHS Markit's flash U.S. composite PMI, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, inched up to 58.8 in February.