US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow pull back from all-time highs; eyes on stimulus talks

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* Energy shares firm about 1% as oil prices rise
* Lowe's jumps on $15 bln share buy-back plan
* Indexes down: Dow 0.2%, S&P 500 0.2%, Nasdaq 0.2%

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By Shriya Ramakrishnan and Medha Singh
Dec 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow eased from record
levels on Wednesday as investors kept an eye out for
developments related to a fresh economic stimulus deal, with
negotiations between government leaders dragging on.
Investors are banking on a long-awaited relief package to
mitigate the economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic that has
led to millions of layoffs and overwhelmed the healthcare
system.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers
were still looking for a path toward an agreement on COVID-19
aid, as the U.S. House of Representatives prepared to vote on a
one-week funding bill to provide more time for a deal.
"We had a pretty nice boost in the morning on speculation
that we might get a new package, but it's kind of an on-again
and off-again thing," said Randy Frederick, vice president of
trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
Positive updates on the COVID-19 vaccine development have
recently lifted Wall Street's main indexes to all-time highs,
with the S&P 500 surpassing 37,000 points for the first time on
Tuesday.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N extended gains from the previous
session, when it said it could obtain late-stage trial results
for a single-dose vaccine in January, earlier than expected.
With overall valuations now at extremely high levels, some
investors worry stocks could be more vulnerable to any bad news
such as unexpected setbacks in the roll-out of coronavirus
vaccines or delays in stimulus. "Markets need to digest, trade range bound and have all
investors that are very optimistic hone back a little bit. We
believe that the business cycle is still in the early innings of
a new uptick," said Andrew Smith, chief investment strategist at
Delos Capital Advisors in Dallas.
Real estate .SPLRCR and utilities .SPLRCU sectors posted
the sharpest percentage declines. Energy .SPNY stocks firmed
about 1%, tracking higher oil prices.
By 11:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 72.68 points, or 0.24%, at 30,101.20, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 7.48 points, or 0.20%, at 3,694.77 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 29.45 points, or 0.23%, at
12,553.33.
Shares of DoorDash Inc DASH.N were set to soar in their
debut on Wednesday after the food delivery startup raised $3.37
billion in one of the biggest U.S. stock market launches so far
in 2020. Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N jumped 6%
after announcing a new $15 billion share repurchase plan.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N advanced 4% after flagging
positive data for its experimental drug from a late-stage
diabetes clinical trial. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.2-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 384 new highs and 14 new lows.