US STOCKS-Nasdaq hits record high, S&P 500 ends lower

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* Boeing jumps on Ryanair's 737 MAX jet orders
* Jobless claims fall after rising for two straight weeks
* Goldman Sachs raises Tesla to "buy"

(Updates with close)
By Noel Randewich
Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC closed
at a record high on Thursday, lifted by Tesla Inc TSLA.O ,
while the S&P 500 .SPX fell after a report that Pfizer Inc
PFE.N had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19
vaccine.
Tesla surged 5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to
"buy" in the run-up to the electric car maker's addition to the
S&P 500 index. Tesla was Wall Street's most traded stock by value, with
about $25 billion worth of shares exchanged, according to
Refinitiv data, more than double Boeing, in second place.
The widely followed S&P 500 fell from all-time highs late in
the session after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer
faced supply chain obstacles related to the vaccine, sending its
stock down 1.7%. Progress in developing a working COVID-19 vaccine before the
end of the year has driven Wall Street's main indexes to record
levels in recent days. Despite the economic destruction caused
by the pandemic, the S&P 500 has gained about 13% in 2020.
"It was the Pfizer news that cut into earlier gains," said
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.
"We're in a year-end Santa rally, but it's going to be a
muted one. Stimulus hopes are back in the market and it looks
like we might get something before year-end, which the economy
desperately needs."
First-time U.S. claims for jobless benefits fell last week,
but remained extraordinarily high at 712,000, while a separate
survey showed U.S. services industry activity slowed to a
six-month low in November. "I don't think we will see those numbers start to get back
to normal until we start to see a rollout of a vaccine," said
Sal Bruno, chief investment officer at IndexIQ. "The market is
discounting that and saying we are looking forward to the first
or second quarter and a rollout of the vaccine to the general
population."
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited some
positive movement in congressional efforts to reach a compromise
on a new coronavirus aid bill but gave no hints on when such a
deal could be struck. Boeing Co BA.N jumped after budget airline Ryanair RYA.I
ordered 75 additional 737 MAX jets with a list price of $9
billion, throwing a commercial lifeline to the embattled U.S.
planemaker. Six of 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by a 1% gain in
energy .SPNY .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.29% to end at
29,969.52 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.06% to
3,666.72.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 0.23% to 12,377.18.
Broad vaccine optimism helped lift the S&P 1500 airlines
index .SPCOMAIR 4%. Cruise operators Carnival Corp CCL.N and
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH.N both surged more
than 8%.
Cloud-security provider Zscaler Inc ZS.O rallied over 26%
after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and
adjusted profit.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.5 billion shares, compared
with the 11.7 billion average over the last 20 trading days.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a
2.02-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.51-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 174 new highs and seven new lows.