US STOCKS-Nasdaq gains on tech stocks, hopes for more stimulus

* Nvidia leads small rally in technology stocks
* Cannabis shares reverse premarket gains
* Weekly jobless claims edge down

(Updates closing prices)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq eked out a modest
gain on Thursday with investors betting on more fiscal stimulus,
but U.S. President Joe Biden said China was poised to "eat our
lunch," a warning that tempered investor enthusiasm for a market
near record highs.
Gains in Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and Intel Corp INTC.O helped
make technology .SPLCRT the only sector on the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq to rise, with all others declining.
Biden told a group of U.S. senators in a meeting to discuss
the need to upgrade U.S. infrastructure that the United States
must raise its game in the face of the challenge from China.
The warning about China and Democrat plans to include
raising the minimum wage to $15 in a $1.9 trillion stimulus
package showed headwinds for investors could be on the rise,
said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York.
"Markets are starting to get a little bit nervous over the
relations between the West and China," Moya said.
Biden's first call late Wednesday with China's President Xi
Jinping "resurfaced all of the difficulties that we're going to
face this year in addition to the pandemic," he said.
The Democrats also are not in agreement on where they stand
on the minimum wage, he said. "This is dragging out stimulus
talks."
Mastercard MA.N also rose after the credit-card company
said it was planning to offer support for some cryptocurrencies
on its network this year, joining a string of big-ticket firms
that have pledged similar support. Bank of New York Mellon BK.N advanced after saying it had
formed a new unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue
digital assets, sending Bitcoin BTC=BTSP to an all-time high
of $48,481. The number of Americans filing new applications for
unemployment benefits were 793,000 last week, compared to
812,000 in the prior week, but they are well below the record
6.867 million reported last March when the pandemic hit the
United States. Wall Street's main indexes have hit record highs recently on
prospects of the $1.9 trillion relief bill that aims to jump
start the U.S. economy, while a largely better-than-expected
earnings season also has bolstered sentiment.
Analysts now expect fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500
firms to grow 3%, versus a 10.3% decline forecast at the
beginning of January, per Refinitiv data. Stocks are trading
with high multiples, raising fears the market is overvalued.
"The market is certainly fairly valued. I don't see the
overall market as horribly overvalued," said David Trainer,
chief executive of New Constructs, a research firm in Nashville,
Tennessee "There are pockets of stocks, we call them micro
bubbles, that are extremely overvalued."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
2.54 points, or 0.01%, to 31,440.34, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
8.03 points, or 0.21%, to 3,917.91 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 57.55 points, or 0.41%, to 14,030.09.
The tech sector .SPLRCT and semiconductors .SOX hit
record highs, while economy-linked energy .SPNY and
industrials .SPLRCI took a back seat after being in the
spotlight this year.
U.S.-listed shares of cannabis companies including Tilray
TLRY.O and Aphria APHA.O reversed premarket gains to drop
42% and 20% after the sector caught the attention of
Reddit-inspired retail investors this week. Walt Disney Co DIS.N was nearly flat ahead of its results
after market close. Pinterest Inc PINS.N rallied after a report said Microsoft
Corp MSFT.O approached the image-sharing company in recent
months about a potential buyout. The negotiations were, however,
currently not active, according to the report.