US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs as stimulus hopes outweigh dire jobs report

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* Nonfarm payrolls fall in December
* Tesla market cap tops $800 billion for the first time
* Micron jumps on upbeat second-quarter revenue forecast
* Indexes up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 0.43%, Nasdaq 0.84%

(Updates to market open; adds comment)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Jan 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq scaled new
highs on Friday, as hopes of more economic stimulus to ride out
a pandemic-led downturn eclipsed concerns over a significant
loss of pace in a labor market recovery.
The U.S. government's employment report showed the economy
shed jobs for the first time in eight months in December as the
country buckled under an onslaught of COVID-19 infections.
However, with a backstop of nearly $900 billion in stimulus
approved by the government last week and expectations of a
bigger fiscal package and infrastructure spending under
President-elect Joe Biden's administration, Wall Street's main
indexes have surged to all-time highs.
"It's hard to ignore the staggering drop in jobs from
December, but the market is poised to shrug off the
disappointing data in the face of the vaccine rollout, strong
likelihood of stimulus, and an accommodative Fed," said Mike
Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE
Financial.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors rose in early trading with
healthcare .SPXHC , consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and real
estate .SPLRCR leading gains.
Financial .SPSY and materials .SPLRCM , which are among
the three top performing sectors this week, slipped.
The S&P 500 closed above 3,800 points for the first time on
Thursday, while the Dow and the Nasdaq are on track for fourth
straight weekly gains.
Some Wall Street bankers, however, expect a pullback in the
near-term as exuberance from unprecedented monetary and fiscal
stimulus have led to "frothy" asset prices. Market participants looked past mounting calls among
congressional Democrats for impeaching President Donald Trump
for a second time, two days after his false claims of election
fraud helped encourage a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol.
"The irony is that ... despite the chaos we got more clarity
and certainty that Biden is the president and that there is
Democratic government," said John Petrides, portfolio manager at
Tocqueville Asset Management in New York.
"The political risk is behind us and the market is rallying
on that."
At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 29.67 points, or 0.09%, to 31,070.44, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 16.41 points, or 0.43%, to 3,819.94 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 109.63 points, or 0.84%, to 13,177.11.
Electric car-maker Tesla Inc's TSLA.O shares were set to
rise for the 11th day, taking its market capitalization to more
than $800 billion for the first time ever. Micron Technology Inc MU.O jumped 2.1% after the chipmaker
forecast second-quarter revenue above estimates, as a global
shift to remote work and a recent uptick in 5G smartphone
adoption drove demand for its chips. U.S.-listed shares of Baidu Inc BIDU.O gained 6.4% on
plans to form a company to make smart electric vehicles,
according to two sources familiar with the matter. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.4-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 67 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 430 new highs and seven new lows.