Nasdaq moves higher as tech stocks offset global growth fears

Technology stocks continued to set the pace on Wall Street while financial stocks lagged as government bond yields fell.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4% to 7637,86, another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 13.78 points, or 0.06%, lower at 24,800.12 after a session that ranged between gains and losses. The S&P 500 rose 0.07% to 2748.80.

Tech stocks in the S&P 500 have risen 6.3% over the past month, marking a shift after investors fled the sector in March amid fears of increased regulatory scrutiny as Facebook faced questions over its sharing of user information.

Tech stocks are looking more attractive, even as tighter trade policies have dented investors’ confidence in the global growth that had driven stocks to records last year.

“Tech is a standalone sector where it feels like there’s a structural growth story, and we’ll continue to see earnings growth,” Fidelity International portfolio manager Nick Peters says.

“Valuations do look pretty full and tech aside, it’s difficult to see where the market will beat expectations.”

In a fresh sign of the tech sector’s ascendancy, Twitter is slated to replace Monsanto in the S&P 500 when trading starts on Thursday. That follows Amazon.com’s climb above $US800 billion in market value on Monday.

Financial stocks were a drag on the S&P 500 as the yield on the 10-year treasury note slipped to 2.906% from 2.939% on Monday.

In commodities, US crude futures crude for July delivery rose 1.2% to $US65.52 a barrel after closing at its lowest level in nearly two months on Monday. Brent crude, the global benchmark added 0.1% to $US75.38 a barrel.

The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.3% and Italian assets remained under pressure as new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte made his first speech to parliament. Italian 10-year government bond yields rose to 2.726% from 2.537% on Monday, ending a four-session streak of declines.

The FTSE MIB stock index fell 1.2%. France’s CAC 40 eased 0.2%, Germany’s DAX edged up 0.1% and the UK’s FTSE 100 lost 0.7%.

Spain’s IBEX 35 also lost 0.7% as a new Socialist government took office,

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