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* U.S. weekly jobless claims drop below 2 million
* Nasdaq 100 index hits record high
* American Airlines up on plans to boost U.S. flights in
July
* Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade rise as DOJ approves deal
* Indexes: Dow flat, S&P 500 down 0.23%, Nasdaq off 0.39%
(Adds comments, updates prices throughout)
By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
June 4 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes edged
lower in choppy trading on Thursday, as a rally fueled by hopes
of a post-coronavirus economic recovery fizzled out even with
weekly jobless claims dipping below 2 million for the first time
since mid-March.
Still, the Nasdaq 100 became the first U.S. equity index to
reclaim its intraday record high, powered by the NYSE FANG+TM
index .NYFANG , which includes Facebook Inc FB.O , Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Netflix NFLX.O and Alphabet
Inc GOOGL.O . Wall Street's main indexes have recovered sharply from their
March lows and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index .IXIC is now only
2% below its all-time closing high hit in February.
"In this market, you need to be selective and technology
continues to be one of our favorite sectors," said Larry Adam,
chief investment officer at Raymond James in Baltimore,
Maryland.
"There's going to be much more reliance on fundamentals ...
and (technology-related) are the types of companies that have
the earnings growth that will be rewarded by the market."
A report from the Labor Department showed new claims for
state unemployment benefits totaled 1.877 million for the week
ended May 30, down from 2.126 million in the prior week.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 1.8 million initial
claims in the latest week. Focus will now shift to the closely watched employment
report for May, due Friday, which is expected to show the
unemployment rate rocketing to 19.8%, a post-World War Two
record.
At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 14.28 points, or 0.05%, at 26,284.17, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 7.23 points, or 0.23%, at 3,115.64 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 37.95 points, or 0.39%, at 9,644.96.
American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O jumped 24.5% after the
airline revealed plans to fly more than 55% of its July 2019
domestic capacity and boost its U.S. flight schedule next month.
Jif peanut butter maker J.M. Smucker Co SJM.N fell 3.8%
after the company forecast a decline in full-year sales on
weakness in sales to restaurants and schools.
Charles Schwab Corp SCHW.N gained 1.5% after it received
an anti-trust approval from the Department of Justice for its
purchase of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp AMTD.O . Shares of TD
Ameritrade jumped 3.5%. EBay Inc EBAY.O jumped 6.3% after it raised its
current-quarter revenue and profit forecast, as people stuck at
home ordered more from its platform due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
Declining issues nearly matched advancers on the NYSE and
the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and six new lows.