US STOCKS-Virus fears keep S&P 500, Dow subdued after strong quarterly rebound

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* Record COVID-19 surge in California, Texas
* Boeing tumbles after Norwegian Air cancels orders
* Uber up on report of potential bid for Postmates
* Indexes mixed: Dow off 0.19%, S&P up 0.20%, Nasdaq up
0.43%

(Updates to open)
By Pawel Goraj and Devik Jain
June 30 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes were
muted at the open on Tuesday as coronavirus-related worries and
simmering U.S.-China tensions weighed on sentiment at the end of
what is expected to be the S&P 500's best quarter since 1998.
The benchmark index has rebounded about 18% since April on a
raft of fiscal and monetary stimulus and the easing of
restrictions, but is still down about 5% on the year as a
flare-up in virus cases fuels fears of a new round of lockdowns.
With California and Texas marking a record spike in cases on
Monday, investors are counting on more stimulus to shore up the
domestic economy. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-indexes were trading
slightly higher, with real estate .SPLRCR and financial
.SPSY stocks leading gains.
"While traders remain curiously cautious waiting for the
next catalyst, they are also keeping risk on a short leash into
the long weekend," said Stephen Innes, markets strategist at
AxiCorp.
"COVID-19 de-risking playbooks are still in play and
investors are not aggressively buying dips while booking profit
quickly."
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who will testify before
the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee
at 12:30 p.m. ET, said in prepared remarks the outlook for the
world's biggest economy was "extraordinarily uncertain".
Sino-U.S. tensions are heating up again with Washington
beginning to eliminate Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law
in response to China's national security law for the territory.
China said it would retaliate. "If the environment between the United States and China
continues to deteriorate, the market is not going to be happy,
but because very little has been known about what's going on
with those new laws, it's not having much of an impact yet,"
said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone
Wealth LLC in New York.
Meanwhile, kicking off a data-heavy week for Wall Street,
consumer confidence is expected to have climbed to 91.8 in June
from 86.6 in May. Data on manufacturing activity and employment
are due on Wednesday and Thursday.
At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 48.89 points, or 0.19%, at 25,546.91, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 5.98 points, or 0.20%, at 3,059.22, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 42.80 points, or 0.43%, at 9,916.96.
In company news, Boeing Co BA.N tumbled 5.6% and was the
biggest drag on the blue-chip Dow after Norwegian Air NWC.OL
canceled orders for 97 aircraft and said it would claim
compensation. Micron Technology Inc MU.O jumped 6.4% as it forecast
higher-than-expected current-quarter revenue on strong demand
for its chips that power notebooks and data centers.
Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N rose 3.5% after reports said
the ride-hailing services company was in talks to buy
food-delivery app Postmates. Declining issues nearly matched advancers on the NYSE and
the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 22 new highs and four new lows.