Wall St edges up ahead of key economic data, AMC soars

2/2 © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Morning sunlight falls on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building after the start of Thursday's trading session in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo 2/2

By Lewis Krauskopf, Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar

(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes posted slim gains on Wednesday ahead of key U.S. economic data due later in the week as investors weighed inflation concerns and a fresh surge in so-called "meme stocks."

The S&P 500 energy sector, the best-performing group this year, extended its rise, gaining 1.7% as oil prices pushed higher. The materials sector fell 0.9% while a 3.0% fall in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc shares dragged on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite.

A weekly unemployment report and May private payrolls data on Thursday will be followed by monthly jobs numbers on Friday, with investors looking for signs of an economic rebound and rising inflation.

"We are looking ahead to the Friday employment report and anticipating that it is going to be significantly better than last month’s report," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.07 points, or 0.07%, to 34,600.38, the S&P 500 gained 6.08 points, or 0.14%, at 4,208.12 and the Nasdaq Composite added 19.85 points, or 0.14%, to 13,756.33.

The benchmark S&P 500 is up about 12% this year, and within about 1% of its record high, as investors anticipate an economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

"After the fastest start to a bull market in history, we have seen expectations increase quite a bit so it's harder to surprise the market," said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta. "After we have had that big run the last six or seven weeks the market has been in a trading range and you are consolidating those gains."

Concerns about whether inflation could prompt action by the Federal Reserve have consumed markets in recent weeks.

The U.S. economic recovery accelerated in recent weeks even as a long list of supply chain troubles, hiring difficulties, and rising prices cascaded through the country, Fed officials said in their latest review of economic conditions.

Philadelphia Fed Bank President Patrick Harker said that as the U.S. economy continues to recover from the coronavirus crisis and the labor market rebounds, it may be time for Fed policymakers to start thinking about the best way to slow the pace of its asset purchases.

Shares of AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) Holdings jumped 95.2%, leading a surge in a group of stocks favored by retail investors on forums such as Reddit's WallStreetBets.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.34-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 60 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 127 new highs and 25 new lows.

About 12.2 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, above the 10.5 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.