US STOCKS-Nasdaq leads gains with technology stocks back in favor

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* Lyft up on plans to enter food-delivery market
* Growth stocks outperform value shares, switching two-day
trend
* Dow down 0.2%, S&P up 0.58%, Nasdaq 1.75%

(Updates to late afternoon, adds commentary; changes byline,
adds dateline)
By Sinéad Carew
Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq led Wall Street's advance on
Wednesday as investors switched back to technology stocks and
away from economically sensitive sectors as they weighed
COVID-19 vaccine progress against a virus surge and likely
timing for a economic rebound.
After falling sharply for two days, the tech-heavy Nasdaq
.IXIC was up almost 2% with "stay-at-home" stocks led by
Microsoft MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O
and Netflix Inc NFLX.O gaining again.
Monday's encouraging data from a late-stage vaccine had
prompted a two-day rotation from technology stocks into sectors
that typically outperform coming out of a recession such as
industrials .SPLRCI , materials .SPLRCM and energy .SPNY
that have lagged broader market during the crisis.
But investors changed gears Wednesday to buy the S&P growth
index .IGX , which includes technology stocks, and sell the
value index .IVX , which includes banks and energy stocks.
"We'll probably have these fits and starts of the rotation
until we get into the spring," said Shawn Snyder, head of
Investment Strategy at Citi Personal Wealth Management. "There's
still really strong earnings for these technology companies and
you're still facing a potential surge in COVID cases through the
winter months and renewed restrictions and lockdowns."
Meanwhile, the top U.S. infectious disease specialist urged
caution until a vaccine can be approved and distributed, as
California and several states across the U.S. Midwest tightened
restrictions. Citi's Snyder also cited challenges around vaccine
distribution and the question of whether individuals will take
the vaccine as reasons for continued relevance of stay-at-home
stocks versus "leave-your-home" industries such as travel.
"To think the style we've been living our lives in for the
last nine months is suddenly going to change is a bit
optimistic. Its going to take longer," he said.
As a result the technology index .SPLRCT , up 2%, led
gainers among the S&P 500's 11 major sectors, followed by the
consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD , which was up 1%. The
biggest sector decliners were materials, down 1.5% and energy
.SPNY , down 1.4%.
"We will see this tug of war between the virus and the
vaccine and between growth and cyclicals for months, until
there's a more definitive timeline for mass distribution of the
vaccine," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at
Inverness Counsel in New York.
At 2:40 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 62.24 points, or 0.21%, to 29,358.68, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 20.62 points, or 0.58%, to 3,566.15 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 201.66 points, or 1.75%, to 11,755.51.
Markets, which also got a boost after Democrat Joe Biden was
projected the winner of the U.S. election, have shrugged off
legal challenges from President Donald Trump as no evidence of
problems with votes has so far been produced.
The Democratic Party retained control of the U.S. House of
Representatives with a lower majority, the Associated Press
reported. As a result investors are now focused on whether they
can wrestle Senate control from Republicans, which will not be
decided until special elections in January.
Democrats may not be able to pass their larger stimulus plan
if Republicans retain a Senate majority. Lyft Inc LYFT.O was up 1% after the ride-hailing app said
it was working on a new service to take a slice of the
burgeoning food-delivery market, as it works to make up for a
drop in quarterly revenue. The Philadelphia SE chip index .SOX was up 3.5% after
suffering sharp losses on Tuesday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.03-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.10-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 6 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and nine new lows.