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* Weekly unemployment claims fall below 1 million
* Cisco is targeting Dow for poor visibility
* Dow down 0.5%, S&P down 0.4%, Nasdaq up 0.1% (Updates until late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
Aug 13 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 claimed in midday trading on Thursday after briefly trading above its record closed high level for a second day, with the Dow also falling in the throes of a disappointing forecast of Cisco Systems Inc.
The S&P 500 previously broke above its record high of 3,386.15 from February 19. Its intraday record high of 3,393.52 was also set on 19 February.
But a 11.6% drop in Cisco Systems Inc awaited the Dow and S&P 500 after the company forecast revenue and profit during the first quarter.
Apple Inc. rose 1.4% to about $ 458.38, helping support the Nasdaq.
Jobless claims fell below $ 1 million for the first time since trying to start the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States five months ago.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to 963,000 for the week ended August 8, the lowest level since mid-March. But the expiration of a $ 600 weekly unemployment supplement at the end of July has likely contributed to the decline.
Data last week showed that the economy has only 9.3 million jobs back from the 22 million jobs lost between February and April, indicating that a long way to pre-pandemic levels has been reached.
But Wall Street recovered most of its vibrations in market capitalization at the start of the pandemic and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was the first of three major indices to hit a record high in June. The Dow remains below its peak in February.
“The outlook for earnings in the coming quarter seems to be watered down by many large companies,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Council in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“It provides a slow market without a real catalyst to push it forward and for the better,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 135.44 points, or 0.48%, to 27.841.4, the S&P 500 lost 11.98 points, or 0.35%, to 3.368.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.74 points, or 0.13%, to 11.026.98.
Markets remain adamant that Democrats and the White House can reach an agreement on a stimulus package to help the economy recover. Unemployment benefits have been a sticking point in their conversations.
The US presidential election is expected to add another layer of uncertainty to markets, with roughly 12 weeks left until election day.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. jumped 14.0 after the company said it will begin its first phase of U.S. theater opening on August 20, covering more than 100 locations.
Tapestry Inc. fell 2.2%, even though it estimates quarterly sales.
Declining issues are the advancing numbers on the NYSE more than 1.61 to 1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.34-to-1 ratio favored declines.
The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 60 new highs and 16 new lows. (Additional report by Ambar Warrick and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Edited by Arun Koyyur, Uttaresh.V and Tom Brown)
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