FAANGs power Nasdaq to record high; Dow remains under pressure

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - The Nasdaq hit a record on Wednesday as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet touched all-time highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average struggled to shrug off concerns over a rapid escalation in the U.S.-China trade spat.

Twenty-First Century Fox climbed 6.9 percent after Walt Disney sweetened its offer for some of the company's assets to $71.3 billion, looking to topple Comcast's bid.

The S&P 500 was on pace to post its first gain in three sessions, boosted by the gains in media stocks. Viacom rose 2.7 percent, while Dish Network and Discovery were up 1.3 percent.

The so-called FAANG stocks rose, with Facebook up 3.1 percent and Alphabet and Amazon.com gaining nearly 2 percent.

 

"You've got a little bit of a shift away from the macro concerns which will continue to be a headwind for this market until we get some answers on trade. Right now the focus is on M&A," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York.

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.

At 12:44 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was up 12.10 points, or 0.05 percent, at 24,712.31, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 10.91 points, or 0.39 percent, at 2,773.50 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 75.67 points, or 0.98 percent, at 7,801.25.

Of the 11 main S&P index sectors, eight were higher.

Shares in Boeing rose 1 percent and kept the Dow from slipping back into the red. The planemaker was considering plans of a new mid-market jet that could enter service in 2025.

"Considering the magnitude of headwinds that we face in trade, it appears as though it has been relatively 'extra Dow' and that's because Dow companies are more heavily impacted due to strong dollar and trade talks," Hogan said.

Chip stocks, which derive a large part of their revenue from China, were also trading higher.

Shares in General Electric Co , the last remaining original member of the 30-stock Dow, fell 0.7 percent after being booted from the index. Walgreens , which will replace GE, gained 5.2 percent.

Starbucks slipped 8.8 percent after the world's largest coffee chain's quarterly sales growth forecast missed analysts' estimates.

Oracle dropped 7.8 percent after the software maker's current-quarter profit forecast fell short of analysts' expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the NYSE for a 2.28-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 26 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 183 new highs and 24 new lows.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)