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* Energy stocks drop as oil prices slide
* Weekly jobless claims stuck at higher levels
* FAANGS stocks mixed
* Indexes down: Dow 0.68%, S&P 0.65%, Nasdaq 0.34%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 10 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 fell in volatile trading on
Thursday as heavyweight tech-related stocks slipped after a
sharp rebound in the previous session, while elevated jobless
claims underscored a patchy economic rebound.
Stay-at-home winners Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O and Netflix Inc NFLX.O fell between 1% and 1.6%.
Amazon.com AMZN.O rose 0.2% and Tesla Inc TSLA.O jumped
4.5%, helping limit the Nasdaq's losses.
The NYSE FANG+TM Index .NYFANG , which includes the core
FAANG stocks, was up 0.9%.
"It's going to be a battle for the next couple of days from
investors who are trying to pick spots to get back into
technology and traders who are using some of these sharp rallies
to take profit," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane
Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New
Jersey.
Wall Street's main indexes bounced on Wednesday from their
biggest three-day rout since March, as investors returned to
tech-focused stocks that are deemed insulated from the current
economic downturn.
The S&P tech index .SPLRCT fell 0.7%. Despite the recent
pullback, the tech index is up about 44% in 2020, far
outperforming the benchmark S&P 500's 13.5% rise in the same
period.
Many market participants are viewing the selloff as a bout
of turbulence rather than the start of a longer slide.
"If (the stock market) today closes up, even if they're
small gains, that's going to give more confidence back to Wall
Street participants to feel more comfortable to get back in,"
said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone
Wealth LLC in New York.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX edged up on Thursday. The
index hit a near three-month high at the start of a historically
tumultuous September. Investors have also remained cautious as
data paints a mixed picture of U.S. economic health.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment
benefits hovered at high levels last week, according to the
Labor Department's data, as layoffs and furloughs persisted
across industries. A separate report showed U.S. producer prices rose slightly
more than expected in August as the cost of services increased
solidly. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was hopeful
legislation for additional COVID-19 relief could be finalized
before the Nov. 3 presidential election no matter how the
Republican-led Senate voted on a slimmed down version later on
Thursday. At 12:49 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 188.82 points, or 0.68%, at 27,751.65, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 22.01 points, or 0.65%, at 3,376.95. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 38.34 points, or 0.34%, at 11,103.22.
Energy stocks .SPNY dropped 2.4 as oil prices extended
losses after U.S. data showed a surprise build in crude
stockpiles last week and on forecasts for lower global oil
demand. O/R
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.32-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.12-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and one new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 19 new lows.