US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow hit record highs after upbeat jobless claims data

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* Weekly jobless claims fall in the latest week
* Oracle falls as revenue misses estimates
* Bumble jumps after revenue beat
* Indexes up: Dow 0.7%, S&P 0.9%, Nasdaq 1.8%

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By Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar
March 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow indexes hit
all-time highs on Thursday as worries about rising inflation
subsided, while a bigger-than-expected fall in weekly jobless
claims reinforced expectations of a labor market recovery.
Mega-cap stocks Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O ,
Facebook Inc FB.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O gained between 2.2%
and 3.6%, recouping losses from a recent pullback and helping
the benchmark S&P 500 surpass its Feb. 16 peak of 3,950.43.
The blue-chip Dow hit an all-time high for the fourth
straight session, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is now about 5%
below its Feb. 12 record close after slumping as much as 12%
from that level last week.
Fewer than expected Americans filed new claims for
unemployment benefits last week as an improving public health
environment allows more segments of the economy to reopen.
"The drop in jobless claims is another win for the week, and
a solid sign that we're making some strides toward pre-pandemic
life," said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment
strategy at E*TRADE Financial.
The benchmark Treasury yields US10UT=RR were at 1.53% but
below 1.6% ahead of an auction of U.S. 30-year debt later in the
day. A weak seven-year auction in late February fueled inflation
concerns and sent yields higher. "The markets appear to have mostly adjusted (to higher
yields). However, we still need to see how the market digests
the 30-year auction today," Eric Merlis, head of global markets
trading at Citizens, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.
The Dow on Wednesday logged a record closing high for the
first time in two weeks as tepid inflation numbers allayed fears
that the economy is running too hot while a sweeping $1.9
trillion COVID-19 relief bill received a final nod from
Congress. Financial .SPSY and industrials .SPLRCI lagged on
Thursday after outperforming other major S&P sectors this year
as they are seen benefiting from a reopening economy. Tech
.SPLRCT and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD , the two
stay-at-home beneficiaries which had recently taken a beating,
jumped 2.6% and 1.8%.
At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 354.47 points, or 1.10%, to 32,651.49, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 56.13 points, or 1.44%, to 3,954.94 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 325.20 points, or 2.49%, to 13,393.58.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX hit a two-week low at 21.65
points.
Bumble Inc BMBL.O jumped about 14% after it reported a
bigger-than-estimated rise in fourth-quarter revenue and said it
expected pent-up demand from people who had been avoiding dating
in person due to the pandemic. A so-called "meme" stock AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc
AMC.N gained 5% as the cinema chain said the roll-out of
COVID-19 vaccines and the release of major movies would boost
sales this year. Oracle Corp ORCL.N slumped 7% as the business software
maker's cloud division reported quarterly revenue that missed
analysts' estimates on increased competition from Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O . Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.7-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 3.6-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 68 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 369 new highs and 18 new lows.