US STOCKS-Wall St slides on bleak data, capping a banner month

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* 5-week tally of jobless claims tops 30 million
* Facebook jumps after upbeat quarterly revenue
* Apple, Amazon results expected after closing bell
* Indexes down: Dow 1.38%, S&P 500 1.23%, Nasdaq 0.68%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday
as grim economic data and mixed earnings prompted investors to
take some profits at the close of Wall Street's best month in
decades.
Although a broad sell-off in the session pushed all three
major U.S. stock averages into the red, April nonetheless looks
to have been a banner month for U.S. equities.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were set for their largest monthly
percentage gains since January 1987, with the Nasdaq on course
for its best month since April 2001.
The three indexes are well within 20% of record highs
reached in February, having quickly rebounded since shutdown
efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic brought
the economy to a grinding halt.
The five-week tally of unemployment claims topped 30 million
and consumer spending has plummeted, according to the latest
round of dismal indicators providing another snapshot of the
crushing economic effects of the widespread shutdown.
"There was horrific data, and several numbers that were
abysmal," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel
in Charlottesville, Virginia. "On the other hand, we've had a
great month in April and people are taking some money off the
table."
Early in the session, the Federal Reserved announced that it
would broaden its "Main Street Lending Program" by lowering the
minimum loan size and expanding eligibility, a move that briefly
helped stocks pare their losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 339.44 points,
or 1.38%, to 24,294.42, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 36.3 points, or
1.23%, to 2,903.21 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
60.40 points, or 0.68%, to 8,854.31.
All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 were in negative
territory, with energy companies .SPNY suffering the largest
percentage loss.
Earnings season continues apace, with 236 of the companies
in the S&P 500 having reported quarterly results. Of those,
two-thirds have surprised consensus estimates to the upside,
according to Refinitiv data.
But there have been 90 negative pre-announcements in the
first quarter, compared with 40 positive, and analysts see
aggregate S&P earnings dropping by a year-on-year rate of 14.4%
in the first three months of 2020, per Refinitiv.
"On most earnings calls (companies are) saying this quarter
is going to be terrible and they have absolutely no idea what
the rest of the year is going to look like," Tuz added. "There
are too many uncertainties."
Market leaders Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon.com AMZN.O
are due to post results after the closing bell.
Facebook Inc FB.O climbed 4.8% after the social media
company reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue.
McDonald's Corp MCD.N was off 1.2% after showing a 16.7%
quarterly profit slide. American Airlines AAL.O posted its first quarterly loss
since emerging from bankruptcy in 2013, sending its shares down
5.7%. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
3.19-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.23-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 19 new highs and 2 new lows.