S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as megacap stocks bounce; Boeing weighs on Dow

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Wednesday as megacap stocks bounced from a steep selloff in the previous session and private jobs rose in April, but a decline in Boeing shares weighed on the Dow.

Technology-related companies including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc rose between 0.2% and 1.3%.

Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose in early trading, with a 2.8% jump in energy stocks leading the advance. The S&P 500 technology sector gained 0.5%.

Defensive utilities and real estate, fell more than 1% each, leading sectoral declines.

"The reopening optimism is back driving the markets today, with investors realizing that the selloff yesterday was probably a bit overdone," said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index in London.

The S&P 500 value index has risen 15.1% so far in the year, while its growth counterpart is up 7.1%.

Strong economic data and earnings pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes to record high last week, but markets have wobbled amid concerns about rising inflation and potentially higher US interest rates.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday she sees no inflation problem brewing, downplaying earlier comments that rate hikes may be needed to stop the economy overheating as President Joe Biden's spending plans boost growth.

"There is the thought in the market that rate hike will be coming, but it's still not quite on the radar just yet. Powell has worked very hard to drum that message home," City Index's Cincotta said.

The ADP National Employment Report showed US private payrolls increased in April as companies rushed to boost production amid a surge in demand, powered by massive government aid and rising vaccinations against COVID-19.

A more comprehensive reading in the form of the Labor Department's non-farm payrolls data is due on Friday.

Boeing Co fell 2.3%, dragging down the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after US air safety officials asked it to supply fresh analysis and documentation showing 737 MAX subsystems would not be affected by electrical grounding issues.

At 10:33 a.m. ET, the Dow was down 49.24 points, or 0.14%, at 34,083.79, the S&P 500 was up 5.22 points, or 0.13%, at 4,169.88 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 34.08 points, or 0.25%, at 13,667.58.

T-Mobile US Inc gained 3.2% as it raised its full-year postpaid subscriber net additions forecast.

Uber Technologies Inc is set to report earnings after markets close on Wednesday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.11-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.32-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 75 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 73 new highs and 31 new lows.