US STOCKS-Wall St ends sharply lower as pandemic fears resurge

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* Airlines, cruise line operators drop as virus cases spiral
* Moderna climbs as it closes in on vaccine data release
* Jobless claims drop to seven-month low

(Updates with session close)
By Noel Randewich
Nov 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended sharply lower on
Thursday as U.S. coronavirus infections surged and investors
weighed the timeline for the mass rollout of an effective
vaccine.
New York became the latest state to introduce stricter
social distancing rules on Wednesday, as new infections in the
country surged above 100,000 for an eighth consecutive day.
The blue-chip Dow .DJI was pulled down by industrial and
financial companies sensitive to economic growth, with Boeing Co
BA.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N each down more than 2%.
Airlines and cruise operators, among the hardest hit by the
coronavirus pandemic, also fell.
Even after Thursday's drop, the S&P 500 has gained almost 2%
this week, buoyed by positive vaccine trial data that increased
expectations of a quick economic recovery. Stocks have also
benefited from expectations that a divided Congress will keep
President-elect Joe Biden from enacting tax hikes that would
hurt corporate profits.
"The reality is that we don't know what the new normal is
going to look like, even when we do recover from the
coronavirus, and that is still a ways away," said Tom Martin,
senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta.
"It's the classic between the market discounting something
that is nine to 12 months out, and then 'undiscounting' it
because it has not happened yet."
New data showed U.S. jobless claims fell to a seven-month
low last week, but the pace of job recovery slowed as fiscal
stimulus waned and further improvement could be limited by a
raging pandemic. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
358.48 points, or 1.22%, to 29,039.15, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
38.94 points, or 1.09%, to 3,533.72 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 84.98 points, or 0.72%, to 11,701.45.
Among the biggest boosts to the Nasdaq was a surge in the
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce company Pinduoduo Inc
PDD.O after it reported strong quarterly revenue. Rival JD.com Inc's JD.O shares also climbed.
The S&P 500 energy index .SPNY and financials .SPSY both
fell sharply.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O rallied after the drugmaker said it had
enough data for a first interim analysis of the late-stage trial
of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. It did not say when it
plans to release the data. Walt Disney Co DIS.N and network gear maker Cisco Systems
Inc CSCO.O each slipped ahead of their quarterly results due
after the close.