NEW YORK, Dec 6 — Industrial and financial stocks rallied while technology shares faltered early today amid expectations for increased volatility as US markets consider the latest Covid-19 threat and potential monetary policy shifts.

Major indices retreated last week as public health officials tracked the latest Omicron variant of Covid-19 while the Delta variant continues to rage in many countries.

"The Omicron variant is being identified in more places around the world, as well as in more places in the United States, but... the variant, based on early findings, doesn’t seem to be particularly virulent,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

He said the more upbeat assessment of Omicron lent support to stocks, but added that definitive conclusions "likely won’t (come) for at least a few more weeks.”

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.3 per cent at 35,014.16.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent to 4,559.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.5 per cent to 15,016.54.

The early trading suggested investors were pulling funds out of technology stocks and steering the money into so-called "value” stocks such as industrials and banks in anticipation of tightening US monetary policy.

This week’s calendar includes the November report on consumer prices, which comes amid heightened worries over inflation. — AFP