US STOCKS-S&P 500 steady as stimulus hopes build, energy stocks shine

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Mnuchin says COVID-19 relief talks making progress
* Airbnb indicated to open more than double the IPO price
* U.S. FDA advisory panel meets on Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine
* Indexes: Dow down 0.24%, S&P down 0.06%, Nasdaq up 0.48%

(Adds comment, details; Updates prices)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
Dec 10 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was nearly flat on Thursday
as investors weighed signs of progress in fiscal stimulus talks
against data showing a surge in jobless claims, while energy
stocks soared on a sharp jump in oil prices.
The S&P energy index .SPNY hit a six-month high as crude
prices surged above $50 a barrel for the first time since early
March. Oil companies Apache Corp APA.O , Occidental Petroleum
Corp OXY.N and Hess Corp HES.N jumped between 9.0% and 4.5%.
O/R
Investors also awaited Airbnb Inc 's ABNB.O debut, with the
home rental firm set to open more than double its initial public
offering price of $68 apiece, making its $3.5 billion IPO the
biggest by a U.S. operating company in 2020. The three major stock indexes got a boost after U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said talks between Republican
and Democratic senators on COVID-19 relief were making "a lot of
progress" with more discussions expected in the day.
"Market is very fixated in anticipation that some type of
deal can be made fairly soon," said Ryan Detrick, chief market
strategist at LPL Financial in North Carolina.
The S&P 500 fell as much as 0.7% in early trading after
Labor Department data showed the number of Americans filing new
jobless claims jumped to a near three-month high last week.
The faltering labor market recovery and the recent surge in
COVID-19 infections have piled pressure on policymakers to come
up with another rescue package, as most of the financial aid
from the government has dried up.
U.S. lawmakers approved a stopgap government funding bill on
Wednesday that would provide more time for negotiations, but an
agreement has remained elusive due to disagreements over aid to
state and local governments and business liability protections.
"The truth is the economy is still going to be a little slow
in the first quarter, and the safety that the tech mega-caps can
provide is making investors go right back in," Detrick said.
At 12:09 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 70.74 points, or 0.24%, to 29,998.07, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 2.11 points, or 0.06%, to 3,670.71, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 59.57 points, or 0.48%, to 12,398.52.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq recovered after a steep sell-off in
the previous session, supported by gains in Tesla Inc TSLA.O ,
Netflix Inc NFLX.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , all adding about 1% each.
The Dow Jones transportation average .DJT , often seen as a
barometer of economic health, dropped about 1.4%.
Also in focus was a meeting of outside advisers to the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later in the day, to decide
whether to recommend that the agency authorize Pfizer Inc's
PFE.N COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. Some officials said vaccinations could begin as soon as this
weekend if the FDA consented.
Declining issues matched advancers on the NYSE, while
advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.2-to-1 ratio on
the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted eight new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 160 new highs and 17 new lows.