S&P 500 Heads For Record as Tech Stocks Rally: Live Updates

Wall Street’s rally stretched into a third day on Thursday, with the S&P 500 heading for a record, as investors stopped worrying about inflation and rising interest rates and focused instead on what looks to be an increasingly peppy economic recovery.

The S&P 500 rose more than 1 percent, climbing above its Feb. 12 closing high, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose more than 2.5 percent, amid encouraging updates on the rollout of vaccines and reopening of the economy.

Bond yields, whose rise has been a recent worry for the market, were muted on Thursday. And with President Biden expected to sign a $1.9 trillion spending package into law later in the day, potentially providing more fuel to for the economy, many analysts see higher stock prices ahead.

“The most recent developments on three of the main market drivers — stimulus, pandemic news, and inflation data — point to further equity upside,” wrote Mark Haefele, chief investment officer for global wealth management at UBS.

Companies that will benefit from the speedy rollout of vaccines and reopening of the economy rose on Thursday. The Russell 2000 index of small stocks, closely tied to the near-term outlook for the economy, jumped nearly 2 percent.

Energy and raw materials firms also posted gains. Oil futures rose. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, gained 1.7 percent, to about $65.53 a barrel.

The yield on 10-Year Treasury notes declined slightly to 1.48 percent in early trading, a relief for investors. In recent weeks, stocks stumbled as the yield jumped more than 1.60 percent, its highest level in a year.

Rising bond yields can be a problem for stocks for a number of reasons.

Bond yields are the basis for most borrowing costs for consumers and companies, so when they go up, they can slow economic growth, hurt corporate profits and make owning stocks slightly less attractive.

And because yields are essentially the interest payments that bond investors collect, higher yields make owning bonds more attractive compared to stocks. Their rise can siphon money from the stock market.

Valuations of technology firms — especially those with high prices relative to the prospect for profits in the coming years — are also especially sensitive to interest rates. And the increase in rates has weighed heavily on tech in recent weeks.

But tech stocks have bounced back sharply this week. Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric car company, rose 3 percent on Thursday. It is up more than 15 percent this week.

Other large technology firms that exert a large influence on market capitalization weighted indexes such as the S&P 500 also jumped on Thursday. Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon all climbed more than 2 percent.

The rise in the market wasn’t only about bond yields. Parts of the market positioned to benefit from a near-term increase in economic activity also fared well on Thursday. Segments such as semiconductors, automakers and metal and mining companies all outperformed the broader market.

Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion has been sold to an unidentified buyer for about $51 million, which will go to a fund providing restitution for the disgraced financier’s sexual abuse victims.

A lawyer for Mr. Epstein’s estate said the seven-story mansion on East 71st Street was sold earlier this week — although for considerably less than the initial $88 million asking price.

The sale was completed after a judge in the U.S. Virgin Islands rejected an attempt by the territory’s attorney general to freeze the sale of any further asset by his estate, which is now worth about $240 million. Once valued at nearly $600 million, the estate has been paying out expenses including taxes and contributions to the restitution fund, which has distributed about $55 million to dozens of Mr. Epstein’s accusers.

The attorney general, Denise George, requested the asset freeze after the estate said a cash crunch was preventing it from providing new money to the restitution fund. The judge overseeing the administration of Mr. Epstein’s estate ruled that Ms. George did not have legal standing to request the asset freeze.

A deed for the sale has yet to be recorded, but Daniel Weiner, one of the estate’s lawyers, said in an email that funds from the sale were being transferred to the compensation program so that it could “resume issuing new claims determinations.”

Several other major transactions loom, including the sales of Mr. Epstein’s homes in Palm Beach, Fla.; Paris; and New Mexico, and the two private islands he owned in the Virgin Islands. The sale of the islands, however, will not happen anytime soon: Ms. George’s office has placed a lien on them as part of the civil racketeering lawsuit she filed last year against Mr. Epstein’s estate.

Mr. Epstein killed himself while in federal custody in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. To date, about 150 women — most of whom claim they were sexually abused by Mr. Epstein as teenagers — have registered with the restitution fund to submit claims.

The White House announced four senior Treasury Department nominations on Thursday, building out Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen’s team as she assumes a central role in carrying out the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that President Biden will sign into law on Thursday.

Joining the top ranks at Treasury will be Nellie Liang, the nominee to be under secretary for domestic finance, Lily Batchelder as assistant secretary for tax policy, Ben Harris as assistant secretary for economic policy and Jonathan Davidson as assistant secretary for legislative affairs.

The hires bring a mix of progressive bona fides and steady-hand experience in economic policymaking that has been the hallmark of most of Mr. Biden’s staffing decisions thus far. Ms. Yellen’s team has prioritized making the United States economy more equitable as it recovers from the pandemic, and the nominees will have central roles in shaping the administration’s agenda on financial regulation and tax policy.

If confirmed, Ms. Liang will be Treasury’s first under secretary for domestic finance since 2014. Ms. Liang previously spent three decades on the staff of the Federal Reserve, rising to lead a department created after the financial crisis to monitor financial stability.

In 2018, Ms. Liang was tapped by former President Donald J. Trump to join the Fed’s board of governors — one of his few picks that was applauded by Democrats. But after Republicans expressed concern that she would push for more strict regulation of banks, she withdrew her name from consideration for the job.

Ms. Batchelder, a tax professor at the New York University School of Law, previously served as deputy director of the White House National Economic Council during the Obama administration. A favorite of progressives, Ms. Batchelder has written about the need for taxing inheritances at higher rates and argued that the current system cements economic inequality in the United States.

Mr. Harris previously served as a chief economist to Mr. Biden when he was vice president and played a leading role in creating Mr. Biden’s campaign agenda. A veteran of Washington’s think tank world, Mr. Harris is also a professor at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and was chief economist for Results for America, a nonprofit group that pushes for evidence-based policymaking.

During the campaign, Mr. Harris, who has close ties to the White House, also served as a liaison to the business community and sought to reassure executives about Mr. Biden’s policies.

Mr. Davidson, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs, is a longtime Capitol Hill staff member who has been chief of staff for Senator Michael Bennet, the Colorado Democrat, for the last decade.

Lauren Hobart moved up from president to chief executive of Dick’s Sporting Goods last month, becoming only the third leader in the retailer’s 70-plus-year history. Ed Stack, the son of the company’s founder, stepped down after 36 years as chief executive and is now executive chairman.

Ms. Hobart spoke with the DealBook newsletter in her first interview since taking the top job.

“The pandemic changed us radically and I think for the better,” Ms. Hobart said.

The company had already moved its digital operations in-house, which allowed it to shift quickly as its stores were forced to close. “The team spun up curbside pickup for the first time in two days,” she said. “It was a project that would have taken 12 to 18 months before.”

An uptick in demand for golf equipment and at-home fitness gear has bolstered the company’s earnings, with sales last year up 10 percent.

Female shoppers were also a part of that growth, and a booming part of the sportswear business in general. This week, Dick’s started a campaign featuring women in sports — and in business. The retailer plans to donate 100,000 sports bras to female athletes in need over the next 18 months. It has worked with its vendors to make sure it has products made specifically for women — rather than the “pink it and shrink it” approach athletic brands took to female-oriented gear in the past. As part of those…