NEW YORK: Stock indexes are mixed in afternoon trading on Wall Street on Wednesday, as hopes for a coming economic revival turn the market’s leaderboard upside down.

Banks and retailers were posting strong gains on hopes that life can inch back toward normal as governments relax stay-at-home orders, after plummeting to some of the market’s worst losses earlier this year when worries about the recession were peaking.

But losses for big tech stocks and other, earlier winners of the stay-at-home economy were holding the gains in check on Wednesday. They’re also some of the most valuable companies in the stock market, which gives their movements outsized sway.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.4 per cent after drifting between a gain of 1pc and a drop of 0.7pc. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 255 points, or 1pc, at 25,256. The Nasdaq composite, which is full of technology stocks, was down 0.4pc.

The movements followed up on strong gains in Europe, where authorities proposed a 750 billion euro ($825bn) recovery fund to help carry the region through the recession caused by the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Asian stocks were mixed, as tensions between the United States and China over the independence of Hong Kong weighed on markets there.

The S&P 500 is back to where it was in early March, in the early days of its sell-off on worries about the coming steep recession. It’s now down only about 10pc from its high in February, recovering from a nearly 34pc drop in March.

Massive amounts of stimulus for the economy from the Federal Reserve and Capitol Hill helped start the rally in late March. The gains have accelerated more recently on hopes that economic growth can return later this year as governments ease up on business-shutdown orders meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In recent weeks, stocks whose profits are most closely tied to the strength of the economy have been showing more life.

Hopes for potential Covid-19 vaccines under development have also helped propel stocks.

There’s still so much stimulus, and with consumers being in better shape, we will get through this sooner than most expect, said Andrew Smith, chief investment strategist at Delos Capital Advisors.

Nordstrom jumped 13.4pc for one of the strongest gains in the S&P 500, as retailers helped lead the way on hopes that reopening economies will mean more people heading back to stores. Gap and Kohl’s also each rose more than 8pc.

Banks were also stronger on hopes that business reopenings could limit the wave of loan defaults that investors had been worrying about. Financial stocks in the S&P 500 rose 3.1pc for the largest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the index.

JPMorgan Chase rose 4.1pc, Bank of America gained 5.9pc and Citigroup jumped 5.7pc.

But losses for big tech tempered the market’s advance. They had been stalwarts earlier when the market was selling off, bolstered by the belief that they can continue to make profits even if everyone remains hunkered at home.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2020