US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 fall as COVID-19 pandemic rages on

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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 falls 0.5%, S&P dips 0.3%, Nasdaq up 0.1%

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By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow slipped 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
country surged above 100,000 for an eighth consecutive day.
The blue-chip Dow .DJI dropped 0.5% 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 0.5%, while Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd RCL.N dropped
1% and Carnival Corp CCL.N tumbled 3.7%.
Wall Street's three main indexes have climbed between 8% and
10% 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.
"The focus has shifted back from politics, election,
stimulus to where it was before, the virus and its economic
impact," said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at
Globalt Investments in Atlanta.
"Given the fact that the virus spread is more geographically
diverse than it was in the summer and early in spring, it is
causing some alarm in the public health community and policy
makers have started to think if restrictions can be effective
and how to go about implementing them."
Latest data showed U.S. jobless claims fell to a seven-month
low last week, but the pace of job recovery slowed as fiscal
stimulus waned and further improvement could be limited by a
raging pandemic. At 11:23 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 134.81 points, or 0.46%, to 29,262.82 and the S&P 500
.SPX lost 10.87 points, or 0.30%, to 3,561.79. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 16.52 points, or 0.14%, to 11,802.93.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Netflix Inc NFLX.O and Microsoft
Corp MSFT.O edged higher, adding to gains from the previous
session.
These companies, which have logged strong demand during 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
the U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce company Pinduoduo
Inc PDD.O , after it reported better-than-expected quarterly
revenue. Rival JD.com Inc's JD.O shares also climbed 7%.
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
indexes posting gains.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O added 4% 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 network gear maker Cisco Systems
Inc CSCO.O slipped ahead of their quarterly results due after
markets close.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.6-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE, while a 0.8-to-1 ratio favored decliners on the
Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week high and no new low,
while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 73 new highs and seven new
lows.