US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 fall as COVID-19 cases spiral

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* Airlines, cruise line operators slip as virus cases spiral
* Moderna rises as it closes in on vaccine data release
* Jobless claims drop to seven-month low
* Dow down 0.6%, S&P falls 0.5%, Nasdaq up marginally

(Updates to market open)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow fell on Thursday
as U.S. coronavirus infections surged and investors weighed the
timeline of the mass roll-out of an effective vaccine.
New York became the latest state to introduce social
distancing restrictions on Wednesday, as new infections in the
United States surged above 100,000 for an eighth consecutive
day. The blue-chip Dow .DJI dropped 0.6% as industrial and
financial companies sensitive to economic growth fell, with
Boeing Co BA.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N down about 2% each.
Airlines and cruise operators, among the hardest hit by the
outbreak, also fell. The S&P 1500 airlines index .SPCOMAIR
declined 1%, while Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd RCL.N fell 3.5%
and Carnival Corp CCL.N tumbled 5.7%.
"With several of the early November catalysts out of the
way, the market does appear to be expressing concern with some
of the near-term COVID trends," said Yousef Abbasi, global
market strategist at StoneX Group Inc in New York.
Wall Street's three main indexes have climbed between 8% and
11% in less than two weeks on prospects of measured industry
regulation from a potentially divided Congress, as well as an
encouraging update from a late-stage coronavirus vaccine trial.
Meanwhile, a Labor Department report showed U.S. jobless
claims fell to a seven-month low last week, but the pace of job
recovery slowed as fiscal stimulus waned. At 09:48 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 189.92 points, or 0.65% to 29,207.71, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 17.01 points or 0.48% to 3,555.65 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC gained 2.96 points or 0.03% to 11,789.39.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Netflix Inc NFLX.O and Microsoft
Corp MSFT.O edged higher in early trading, adding to gains
from the previous session.
These companies, which have logged strong demand in the
work-from-home shift, fell sharply earlier this week as
investors rotated to value stocks on hopes of a faster economic
rebound following positive COVID-19 vaccine data.
Among the biggest boosts to the Nasdaq was a 20% surge in
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce company Pinduoduo Inc
PDD.O after it reported better-than-expected quarterly
revenue. Rival JD.com's JD.O shares also climbed 5%.
Financials .SPSY and energy .SPNY posted the sharpest
percentage losses among major S&P sectors, while technology
.SPLRCT and communication services .SPLRCL were the only two
making gains.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O added 5% after the drugmaker said it
had enough data for a first interim analysis of the late-stage
trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. It did not say when
it plans to release the data. Walt Disney Co DIS.N and networking gear maker Cisco
Systems Inc CSCO.O slipped ahead of their quarterly results
due after markets close.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.6-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE; on Nasdaq, a 0.6-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and no new low,
while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and five new
lows.