Tech stocks push S&P 500 to record close, buoy Nasdaq – Reuters

Tech stocks push S&P 500 to record close, buoy Nasdaq – Reuters

(Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed at another record high on Tuesday and the Nasdaq composite index jumped, as investors shook off concerns about the halt in Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine rollout and strong U.S. inflation.The drugmaker's shares hit a one-month low before recovering some losses to close down 1.3%, as calls for pausing the use of its COVID-19 vaccine after six women developed rare blood clots dealt a fresh setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic.The news came as U.S. data showed the consumer price index (CPI) in March rose by the most in more than 8-1/2 years, kicking off what the majority of economists expect will be a brief period of higher inflation.U.S. futures initially dropped on the J&J news, but pared losses after the CPI data. Solid demand for Tuesday's U.S. Treasuries issue pushed down yields further, highlighting investors' lack of concern about any imminent bump in interest rates.Instead, in one of the year's quietest sessions, high-flying technology names that flourished during coronavirus-induced lockdowns last year attracted renewed buying that boosted Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc. The trio gained between 0.6% and 2.4%.The wider technology sector rose 1%, and the NYSE FANG+TM Index climbed