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* Disney drops after strong run up to results
* PayPal extends rise as brokerages upbeat after investor
day
* Energy stocks slide as oil prices drop on demand fears
* Indexes down: Dow 0.18%, S&P 0.03%, Nasdaq 0.09%
(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes eased on
Friday ahead of a long weekend, as investors digested recent
gains driven by stimulus bets and accelerated vaccine roll outs.
Heavyweights Apple Inc AAPL.O , Tesla Inc TSLA.O and
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O were among the major drags on the S&P
500 and the Nasdaq.
Large-cap growth stocks .RLG underperformed value stocks
.RLV as investors favored names likely to benefit from a
reopened economy.
Still, all three major U.S. stock indexes were on course for
their second straight weekly rise, as a sharp drop in new
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations also buoyed hopes of life
eventually returning to normal.
The Lipper data late on Thursday showed U.S.-based stock
funds attracted $22.9 billion in the week to Wednesday, the
largest weekly inflow since March 2008. U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday on account of
George Washington's Birthday.
"There seems to be a pause in the negotiations for the
stimulus so that kind of takes a lot of air out of the room,"
said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital
Partners in Pittsburgh.
"It's going to be a long weekend and ... there is just less
interest in buying more."
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group
of mayors and governors on Friday as he continues to push for
approval of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.
A Reuters poll showed the U.S. economy is expected to reach
pre-COVID-19 levels within a year as the proposed $1.9 trillion
fiscal package helps boost economic activity, but it's likely to
take over a year for unemployment to fall to early 2020 levels.
Latest data showed U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell
in early February as households remained worried about the
economy, despite expectations for additional fiscal stimulus.
With the markets near historic highs, many analysts have
cautioned of a near-term pullback, with new coronavirus variants
and bumps in vaccine distribution posing as threats.
At 10:10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 36.68 points, or 0.12%, to 31,394.36, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 1.23 points, or 0.03%, to 3,915.15 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC lost 19.47 points, or 0.14%, to 14,006.31.
Economy-linked bank stocks .SPXBK jumped about 1.5%, while
energy .SPNY , materials .SPLRCM and industrials .SPLRCI
also advanced.
Largely upbeat earnings update have also supported market
sentiment. About 82% of 355 S&P 500 firms have topped analysts'
estimated for fourth-quarter profit, well above the average beat
rate of 76% over the past four quarters, per Refinitiv data.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N reported a surprise quarterly profit.
However, its shares fell 1.5%. after a more than 13% run up to
its results over the last two weeks. PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O rose about 3% as several
brokerages raised price targets on the stock a day after the
payments company's investor day call.
Dating app operator Bumble Inc BMBL.O gained 13%, a day
after a stellar debut sent its shares up more than 75%.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.1-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE matched them on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 180 new highs and 14 new lows.