US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow pull back from record highs as shutdown worries loom

* Tesla jumps on pending S&P 500 inclusion
* Walmart, Home Depot, Kohl's beat earnings expectations
* Walgreen, CVS hammered by Amazon's online pharmacy foray
* Indexes down: Dow 0.57%, S&P 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.01%

(Updates to afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
Nov 17 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow retreated from
record closing highs on Tuesday as surging cases of COVID-19 and
the growing threat of a fresh round of economic lockdowns and
weak retail sales data dampened the euphoria caused by potential
vaccine breakthroughs.
The broad sell-off was a reversal of Monday's rally, in
which the blue-chip Dow reached its first record closing high
since before the pandemic.
The Nasdaq was essentially flat, its losses capped by
surging Tesla Inc TSLA.O shares.
"We're seeing profit taking after some substantial gains,
and we had mixed macro news," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "The market
is pulling back, but we're off the lows of the day."
"There's nothing to suggest we've hit a peak of this
'vaccine rally.'"
Monday's rally was prompted by Moderna Inc's MRNA.O
announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate appears to be
94.5% effective in preventing infection. But a recent surge in new coronavirus cases across the
United States have led several governors to enact new
restrictions to prevent the disease from spiraling out of
control. The retail sales report released by the Commerce Department
showed spending decelerating as the holiday shopping season
approaches amid a lack of forthcoming fiscal relief from
Washington. "The retail sales data was disappointing and that's an
alarming sign, in that we're not very far away from the holiday
spending season," Cardillo added. "The pandemic is keeping
people from opening up their wallets in a big way."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 171.75 points,
or 0.57%, to 29,778.69, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 12.45 points, or
0.34%, to 3,614.46 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.67
points, or 0.01%, to 11,923.46.
Among 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, utilities .SPLRCU
and healthcare stocks .SPXHC were faring the worst.
Third-quarter earnings season is in its final stretch, with
465 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those,
84.5% have beaten consensus estimates, according to Refinitiv
data.
This week brings quarterly results from series of
high-profile retailers.
Walmart Inc WMT.N beat profit expectations and posted a
bigger-than-expected 6.4% annual growth in same-store sales.

Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc HD.N also beat
quarterly profit and sales estimates as consumers used
stay-at-home restrictions to focus on DIY home projects.
Still, Walmart's and Home Depot's stocks were down 0.6% and
3.1%, respectively.
But Kohl's Corp KSS.N jumped 8.9% after the department
store chain posted a surprise quarterly profit and forecast
strong margins for the upcoming holiday season.
Target Corp TGT.N and Lowe's Companies Inc LOW.N results
are expected before the bell on Wednesday.
Shares of Tesla jumped 9.0% after S&P Dow Jones Indices
announced it would add the electric automaker to the S&P 500 on
Dec. 21. Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O rose 0.7% after it launched an
online pharmacy in the United States. Shares of rival drug
retailers such as Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O CVS
Health Corp CVS.N were both down nearly 9%, on the news.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.18-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.02-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 96 new highs and eight new lows.