US STOCKS-Wall Street ends four-day rally in advance of May jobs report

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* U.S. weekly jobless claims drop below 2 million
* Nasdaq 100 index touches record high
* American Airlines jumps on plans to boost U.S. flights in
July
* Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade rise as DOJ okays deal
* Indexes off: Dow 0.03%, S&P 500 0.30%, Nasdaq 0.37%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
June 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street retreated on Thursday as
investors hit the pause button in advance of Friday's jobs
report, capping a four-day rally driven by rising economic
sentiment.
While all three major indexes were modestly lower, they have
shown remarkable resilience since their late March plunge, with
the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 and the Dow now within 2%, 9% and 12% of
their respective record highs reached in February.
The Nasdaq 100 .NDX briefly breached its record closing
high earlier in the session.
"From the S&P 500 Index peak on February 19 to the bear
market lows March 23, stocks lost 33.9%," noted Ryan Detrick,
senior market strategist for LPL Financial in Charlotte, North
Carolina. "Now, 50 trading days later, stocks have gained 39.6%,
for the largest 50-day rally since the S&P 500 moved to 500
stocks in 1957."
"This amount of strength we've seen in the last 50 days
doesn't happen in bear markets, they take place at the beginning
of extended bull markets," Detrick added.
Economic data showed the number of Americans filing for
unemployment benefits dipped below 2 million for the first time
since mid-March, and plummeting international commerce resulted
in a net widening of the U.S. trade gap. Friday's much-anticipated jobs report from the Labor
Department is expected to show the U.S. unemployment rate
sky-rocketing to a historic 19.7%.
Violent protests overnight against the death of George Floyd
appeared to abate as prosecutors brought new charges against the
officers implicated in the killing. The European Central Bank approved a stimulus package that
surpassed expectations, nearly doubling the size of its Pandemic
Emergency Purchase Plan to 1.35 trillion Euros. Its American counterpart, the U.S. Federal Reserve, is due
to meet next week for its two-day policy meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 8.01 points, or
0.03%, to 26,261.88, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 9.33 points, or
0.30%, to 3,113.54 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
35.92 points, or 0.37%, to 9,646.99.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but financials
.SPSY , industrials .SPLRCI and materials .SPLRCM were in
the red in a continuation of a rotation in cyclicals.
American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O announced it would beef
up its flight schedule in July to 55% of its year-ago capacity
as the U.S. economy reopens, sending its shares soaring 30.5%.
The hard-hit commercial airline industry also jumped on the
news, with the ARCA Airline index .XAL up 9.9%.
Global online commerce platform EBay Inc EBAY.O rose 6.6%
after raising current quarter forecasts due to a surge in
customer orders. The Department of Justice gave anti-trust approval for
Charles Schwab Corp's SCHW.N purchase of TD Ameritrade Holding
Corp AMTD.O , sending their shares up 2.6% and 5.8%,
respectively.
J.M. Smucker Co SJM.N fell 4.6% after the packaged food
company forecast a decline in full-year sales. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.08-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.14-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and eight new lows.