Nasdaq hits record high; Dow remains under pressure

By Chuck Mikolajczak
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., June 4, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq touched a record on Wednesday, lifted by a climb in large-cap tech and consumer discretionary names, while the Dow and S&P 500 were hemmed in as concerns over an escalation in the U.S.-China trade spat simmered.

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc <FOXA.O> climbed 7.8 percent after Walt Disney Co <DIS.N>, up 0.7 percent, sweetened its offer for some of the company's assets to $71.3 billion, looking to topple Comcast Corp's <CMCSA.O> bid, up 2.2 percent.

The S&P 500 was poised to snap a three-session losing streak, as gains in media stocks helped send the consumer discretionary sector <.SPLRCD> up 0.7 percent.

Names such as Facebook Inc <FB.O> up 2.8 percent, part of the so-called "FAANG" group, also rose. Alphabet nL4N1TM43P <GOOGL.O> advanced 1.5 percent and Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> rose 1.4 percent. Shares in those companies have been relatively unaffected by trade worries. The S&P tech sector <.SPLRCT> was 0.7 percent higher.

Shares in Boeing Co <BA.N>, which has acted as a proxy for trade fears, rose 0.8 percent after six straight declines and kept the Dow near the unchanged mark. The planemaker was considering plans of a new mid-market jet that could enter service in 2025.

"There haven't been new trade tariffs announced. Investors can focus a little more on the fundamentals," said Sameer Samana, global equity and technical strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in St. Louis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 15.7 points, or 0.06 percent, to 24,684.51, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 8.69 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,771.28 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 74.08 points, or 0.96 percent, to 7,799.67.

Markets skidded on Tuesday after President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats against Chinese goods rang alarm bells over an escalating U.S.-China trade spat.

The United States is also under fire from other countries for its protectionist measures. The European Union will start charging import duties of 25 percent on a range of U.S. products from Friday after Washington imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminium at the start of June.

Chip stocks, which derive a large part of their revenue from China, were also trading higher. The PHLX semiconductor index <.SOX> advanced 0.7 percent after dropping more than 2 percent over the past three sessions.

Shares in General Electric Co <GE.N>, the last remaining original member of the 30-stock Dow, fell 0.7 percent after being booted from the index. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc <WBA.O>, which will replace GE, jumped 4.9 percent.

Starbucks Corp <SBUX.O> tumbled 9.4 percent after the world's largest coffee chain's quarterly sales growth forecast missed analysts' estimates.

Oracle Corp <ORCL.N> slumped 6.7 percent after the software maker's current-quarter profit forecast fell short of analysts' expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.75-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.18-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and six new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 197 new highs and 26 new lows.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)