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| - Tech stocks struggled to get off the ground in early Wall Street trading on Monday, though the Dow was moving towards adding to its record-setting close. Companies set to benefit from the broader reopening of the US economy have seen their shares rise in recent days, but fears of looming inflation manifested in a jump in bond yields have hurt tech stocks that generally boomed during the pandemic. About 20 minutes into trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent at 32,838.25, adding to Friday's record close, while the broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 3,941.71. The tech-rich Nasdaq also was flat at 13,314.75, after spending the morning flirting with negative territory. "Economic reopening optimism remains the main catalyst and continues to benefit value and cyclically-natured sectors," investment bank Charles Schwab said. In a sign of investor optimism for a return to normalcy in the United States as Covid-19 vaccines become widespread, hard-hit carriers United Airlines and American Airlines saw their share prices rise 5.4 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes, whose rise has become a bellwether for the retreat of tech stocks, hovered around the 1.6 percent range, little changed from recent sessions after returning to pre-pandemic levels. Investors are looking forward to the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting beginning Tuesday, during which the central bank is not expected change its lending rate but will release new economic forecasts which are expected to reflect a more optimistic outlook. Also on Wall Street's mind is the impact of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill President Joe Biden signed last week, which includes a host of measures including direct payments to Americans that could help the wider economy. cs/hs
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