US STOCKS-Wall St falls as virus fears eclipse upbeat retail report

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* Twitter falls as accounts of top voices hacked on its
platform
* Bank of America slips as profit halves in Q2
* American Airlines says air travel demand slowing again
* Indexes down: Dow 0.47%, S&P 0.68%, Nasdaq 1.10%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday with the
S&P 500 retreating from a five-week high as concerns about the
economic toll from another round of shutdowns across the United
States offset data showing upbeat domestic retail sales in June.
The Commerce Department's report showed retail sales jumped
7.5% last month compared with economists' forecast of 5%,
signaling the economy was continuing to limp out of a
coronavirus-driven slump. But a recent surge in domestic COVID-19 cases has forced
states such as California to shut down again, sparking fears of
more business damage and slowing the pace of a Wall Street
rally.
"Much of the easy lifting in both the equity markets and in
the economy is mostly behind us," said Michael Hans, chief
investment officer at Clarfeld Citizens Private Wealth in
Greater New York Area.
"Especially as it relates to retail sales, the policy moving
forward is important. What goes on at the end of the month with
the pandemic unemployment assistance set to expire? How does
that impact the recovery and how does the consumer fare?"
Millions are set to lose their unemployment checks on July
31 when the government stops paying an additional $600 per week
to jobless self-employed people, gig workers and contractors who
do not qualify for regular state unemployment benefits.
Another report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed
weekly jobless claims fell to 1.30 million in the week ended
July 11, down slightly from the previous week but remain roughly
double their highest point during the global financial crisis.
At 9:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 125.92 points, or 0.47%, at 26,744.18, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 21.88 points, or 0.68%, at 3,204.68. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 116.37 points, or 1.10%, at
10,434.12.
Technology stocks weighed the most on all the three indexes.
Among major S&P sectors, communication services .SPLRCS ,
technology .SPLRCT and energy .SPNY lagged the most.
Bank of America Corp BAC.N fell 3.8% after its
second-quarter profit more than halved, while Morgan Stanley
rose 1.6% after posting a record quarterly profit.
Twitter Inc TWTR.N fell 2.8% as hackers accessed its
internal systems to hijack some of the platform's top voices
including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star
Kim Kardashian West, former U.S. President Barack Obama and
billionaire Elon Musk and used them to solicit digital currency.
American Airlines AAL.O dropped 6.5% as it sent 25,000
notices of potential furloughs to frontline workers and warned
that demand for air travel is slowing again.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O slipped 2.8% as its vehicle registrations
nearly halved in the U.S. state of California during the second
quarter, according to data from a marketing research firm.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 3.09-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 3.39-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 51 new highs and nine new lows.