NASDAQ HITS CORRECTION; DOW ADVANCES

Technology-related shares sold off on Monday (Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Manila) in a big downturn that pushed the Nasdaq into a correction and offset stocks that rose on hopes the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill will spur the US economic recovery, Herbert Lash and Karen Pierog reported for Reuters.

The Dow hit a record intra-day high but the big tech stocks that have led Wall Street to scale successive peaks over the past year fell, with the Nasdaq closing down 2.41%. The Nasdaq is now down 10.6% from its Feb. 12 record close, or more than a 10% slide the market considers a correction.

Shares related to finance, restaurants and travel rose on expectations those sectors will do well when the economy reopens, but they were unable to offset the weight of the bigger tech shares that dominate the US stock market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 306.14 points, or 0.97%, to 31,802.44, the S&P 500 lost 20.59 points, or 0.54%, to 3,821.35 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 310.99 points, or 2.41%, to 12,609.16.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 14.03 billion shares.

After the stimulus bill won US Senate approval on Saturday, President Joe Biden said he hoped for quick passage by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives so he could sign it and send $1,400 direct payments to Americans.

But prospects of more government spending and a growing economy have stoked fears of an inflation spike, sending the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to near one-year highs and weighing on technology shares that rely on cheap funding for growth.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday the package would fuel a “very strong” US recovery and she did not expect the economy to run too hot because of the increased spending.

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