US STOCKS-Microsoft and Amazon lead S&P 500 to 4,000 points

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* Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise
* Micron jumps after upbeat revenue forecast
* Indexes: Dow +0.50%, S&P 500 +0.95%, Nasdaq +1.48%

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to add afternoon trading, new byline)
By Noel Randewich
April 1 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 jumped past the 4,000 mark
for the first time on Thursday, riding gains in Microsoft,
Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a recovering U.S.
economy.
Microsoft MSFT.O , Amazon AMZN.O , Alphabet GOOGL.O and
Nvidia NVDA.O jumped 1% or more, with those and other growth
stocks showing signs of awakening after lagging in recent weeks
behind so-called value stocks expected to outperform as the
economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for
unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week. However,
other data showed a measure of manufacturing activity soared to
its strongest level in more than 37 years in March, with
employment at factories the highest since February 2018.
In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI was up 0.5% at 33,145.88 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 0.95% to 4,010.77.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 1.48% to 13,442.31.
With its latest intra-day record, the S&P 500 was up about
7% in 2021, and has gained about 80% from its low in March 2020.
"We're still bullish for this year, and we think that with
stimulus, with the Fed committed to being dovish, with the
economy reopening due to more of the U.S. getting vaccinated,
overall you're going see corporate earnings do pretty well,"
said King Lip, chief investment strategist at Baker Avenue Asset
Management in San Francisco.
The Nasdaq remained about 5% below its Feb. 12 record high
close, still smarting as higher U.S. bond yields hurt technology
stocks.
Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with technology
.SPLRCT , communication services .SPLRCL and energy .SPNY
gaining more than 1%.
Micron Technology Inc MU.O jumped 4% after the chipmaker
forecast fiscal third-quarter revenue above Wall Street
estimates due to higher demand for memory chips, thanks to 5G
smartphones and artificial intelligence software. U.S.-listed shares of rival Taiwan Semiconductor TSM.N
rose 3.7% after it said it will invest $100 billion over three
years to meet rising chip demand. The three main indexes are set to close out a
holiday-shortened week with gains, led by the Nasdaq. U.S. stock
markets will close for the Good Friday holiday.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX slipped below 18 points for
the first time in 14 months, a level last seen before the
coronavirus-driven global financial market meltdown in March
2020.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N fell 0.5% after the drugmaker said
it had found a problem with a batch of the drug substance for
its COVID-19 vaccine being produced by Emergent Biosolutions
EBS.N , whose shares tumbled 14%.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.42-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.66-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 73 new highs and 11 new lows.