US STOCKS-S&P 500 rides Microsoft, Amazon to record close north of 4,000

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* Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise
* Micron jumps after upbeat revenue forecast

(Updates with market close)
By Noel Randewich
April 1 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 surged on Thursday to its
first-ever close above the 4,000 mark, lifted by gains in
Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a
recovering U.S. economy.
Microsoft MSFT.O , Amazon AMZN.O , Alphabet GOOGL.O and
Nvidia NVDA.O jumped 1% or more, with those and other growth
stocks showing signs of awakening after lagging in recent weeks
behind so-called value stocks expected to outperform as the
economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for
unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week. However,
other data showed a measure of manufacturing activity soared to
its strongest level in more than 37 years in March, with
employment at factories the highest since February 2018.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
0.53% to end at 33,155.85 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 1.19% to 4,020.07.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 1.76% to 13,480.28.
With its latest record, the S&P 500 was up about 7% in 2021,
and it has gained 80% from its low in March 2020.
"We're still bullish for this year, and we think that with
stimulus, with the Fed committed to being dovish, with the
economy reopening due to more of the U.S. getting vaccinated,
overall you're going see corporate earnings do pretty well,"
said King Lip, chief investment strategist at Baker Avenue Asset
Management in San Francisco.
The Nasdaq remained about 5% below its Feb. 12 record high
close, still smarting after higher U.S. bond yields hurt
technology stocks.
Most S&P sectors rose, with technology .SPLRCT ,
communication services .SPLRCL and energy .SPNY gaining more
than 1%.
Micron Technology Inc MU.O jumped after the chipmaker
forecast fiscal third-quarter revenue above Wall Street
estimates due to higher demand for memory chips, thanks to 5G
smartphones and artificial intelligence software. U.S.-listed shares of rival Taiwan Semiconductor TSM.N
rose after it said it will invest $100 billion over three years
to meet rising chip demand. U.S. stock markets will close on Good Friday for the
holiday.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX slipped below 18 points for
the first time in 14 months, a level last seen before the
coronavirus-driven global financial market meltdown in March
2020.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N fell after the drugmaker said it
had found a problem with a batch of the drug substance for its
COVID-19 vaccine being produced by Emergent Biosolutions
EBS.N , whose shares tumbled.