US STOCKS-S&P 500 gains as investors look beyond pandemic to recovery

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* Marriott drops as profit misses lowered estimates
* Cardinal Heath surges as pandemic drives sales
* Under Armour slumps on warning sales could halve
* Indexes: Dow off 0.09%, S&P up 0.29%, Nasdaq climbs 1.04%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 inched higher on
Monday as investors balanced caution over new spikes in
coronavirus infections with expectations that an economy
crippled by mandated shutdowns will soon be re-opened for
business.
While the Dow was nominally lower, technology shares put the
Nasdaq on course for its sixth consecutive advance. The
tech-heavy index is now up about 3% year-to-date.
All three major U.S. indexes remain within 20% of all-time
highs reached in February, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq within 10%
of its closing record.
Indeed, despite bleak recent economic data, including
Friday's 20.2 million drop in U.S. payrolls, Wall Street has
gained in recent weeks as investors look beyond pandemic to
recovery. "I don't know who would be selling going into the reopening
of the economy, saying I'm going to take my ball and go home
now," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist, senior
portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York. "A lot
of professional investors are fearful of missing out and that
has kept them in the market begrudgingly."
But a surge of new coronavirus infections in Germany and
South Korea suggested early efforts to lift restrictions could
be premature, even as businesses around the world, shuttered by
social distancing restrictions, begin re-opening their doors.
"If the number of cases really spike in places that have
opened up, it raises concerns of a potential second shutdown,"
Pavlik added.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 21.79 points,
or 0.09%, to 24,309.53, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 8.54 points,
or 0.29%, to 2,938.34 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
94.59 points, or 1.04%, to 9,215.91.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, 5 were in the black,
with healthcare .SPXHC enjoying the largest percentage gain.
First-quarter earnings season is nearing the final stretch,
with 440 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of
those, 67.5% have beaten Wall Street estimates, according to
Refinitiv data.
In aggregate, S&P 500 earnings are seen to have dropped by
12.1% in the first quarter, compared with a year ago.
Drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc CAH.N jumped 6.7% as
the pandemic boosted third-quarter sales. Chesapeake Energy Corp CHK.N slid 12.7% after it said
bankruptcy is among the options under consideration as the shale
driller copes with plummeting oil and gas prices. Marriott MAR.O missed first-quarter profit margins by a
wide margin as bookings plunged. The hotel operator's shares
were down 4.5%. Shares of Under Armour Inc UAA.N plunged 10.0% after the
athletic wear company forecast a 50% to 60% drop in the second
quarter as many of its stores remain shuttered. Packaged food company General Mills GIS.N said it expects
to surpass its fiscal 2020 sales expectations as consumers stock
their pantries amid lockdowns, sending its stock up
2.3%. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.59-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and one new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 91 new highs and 10 new lows.