US STOCKS-S&P 500 edges back from record high on doubts over bigger stimulus checks

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* US Senator Manchin opposes $2,000 direct checks - report
* Nonfarm payrolls fall in December
* Tesla market cap tops $800 bln for the first time
* Indexes: Dow down 0.5%, S&P off 0.2%, Nasdaq up 0.3%

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By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Jan 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 retreated slightly from a
record high on Friday following a report that Democratic U.S.
Senator Joe Manchin opposed bigger direct checks, throwing cold
water on possible further stimulus payments.
Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia, told the
Washington Post in an interview that he would "absolutely not"
support a new round of payments, despite Democratic leaders'
calls for $2,000 checks. Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq touched
record highs as hopes of more fiscal aid eclipsed data showing
the economy shed jobs for the first time in eight months in
December. "Part of the reason the market has rallied in the last
couple of days is the expectation of more stimulus, not only
short-term but also long-term," said Tim Ghriskey, chief
investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.
"The stand that Manchin is taking is against short-term
stimulus, but that could have an impact in the long term too.
The Senate is barely Democratic. Manchin certainly could go the
other way."
Positive COVID-19 vaccine data and expectations of a bigger
fiscal package and infrastructure spending under a
Democratic-led U.S. Congress have pushed the S&P 500 above 3,800
points for the first time, and set all three major indexes on
track for weekly gains.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors dropped, with
economy-linked financials .SPSY , materials .SPLRCM and
industrials .SPLRCI , which have outperformed their peers and
scaled record levels this week, dropping more than 1%.
Market participants looked past a report that congressional
Democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment against
President Donald Trump on Monday, after a violent crowd of Trump
supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. At 02:03 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 150.64 points, or 0.49%, to 30,890.49, and the S&P 500
.SPX lost 5.63 points, or 0.15%, to 3,798.16.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 36.49 points, or 0.28%,
to 13,103.96, helped by gains in Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Baidu
Inc BIDU.O .
Electric car-maker Tesla jumped 6%, taking its market
capitalization to more than $800 billion for the first time
ever. U.S.-listed shares of Baidu gained about 13% on plans to
form a company to make smart electric vehicles, according to two
sources familiar with the matter. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.5-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.6-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 83 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 543 new highs and 25 new lows.