US STOCKS-Wall St eases after strong rally as virus cases surge

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* Novavax jumps on $1.6 bln govt award for COVID-19 vaccine
* Nasdaq notches fresh all-time high
* Walmart gains after report of membership program
* Indexes: Dow down 0.76%, S&P off 0.25%, Nasdaq up 0.23%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By C Nivedita and Medha Singh
July 7 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 eased on Tuesday, a day after
the benchmark index logged its longest streak of gains this year
as investors weighed the risk of a sharp jump in new coronavirus
cases nationwide hindering a rebound in economic activity.
The Nasdaq, on the other hand, claimed another record high,
boosted by shares of technology heavyweights Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O and Apple Inc AAPL.O . The Dow Industrials .DJI
dropped 0.8%, weighed down by cyclical stocks including Goldman
Sachs GS.N and Boeing Co BA.N .
Large parts of the country reported tens of thousands of new
coronavirus infections. New York expanded its travel quarantine
for visitors from three more states, while Florida's greater
Miami area rolled back its reopening. Bank .SPXBK stocks, whose performance is linked to the
outlook for the economy, dropped 2.6%. Travel-related stocks,
which were among the hardest hit during lockdowns, also fell.
The S&P 1500 airlines index .SPLCOMAIR shed 3.7%.
"There's some signs of improvement in economic activity and
there's concerns about rising cases in particular states. And
all of that had the market kind of churning but not really find
true direction," said Brian Levitt, global market strategist,
Invesco in New York City.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen in the past five sessions
despite an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the United
States as a slew of upbeat data for June bolstered views that an
economic recovery is underway.
The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow Industrials .DJI
have risen about 45% from their March lows and are now about 6%
and 11% from their record levels hit in February. The Nasdaq
.IXIC reclaimed its record high last month.
The S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 triggered a "golden cross"
pattern on Tuesday, when the 50-day moving average crossed above
the 200-day moving average, which could portend more gains for
stocks in the short term.
At 12:50 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 199.94 points, or 0.76%, at 26,087.09, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 7.91 points, or 0.25%, at 3,171.81. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 24.30 points, or 0.23%, at 10,457.95.
Walmart Inc WMT.N jumped 4.3% after a report that the
retailer is close to launching its membership program, a direct
competitor for Amazon.com's AMZN.O Prime service. Amazon
shares slipped 0.5%. Gains for technology .SPLRCT and communications services
.SPLRCS shares capped declines on the S&P 500.
Novavax Inc NVAX.O jumped 34.6% as the U.S. government
awarded $1.6 billion to the drugmaker to cover testing,
commercialization and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus
vaccine in the country. "There's a little bit of a quiet period before we move into
the second quarter earnings reporting season," said Bill
Northey, senior investment director, U.S. Bank Wealth Management
in Minneapolis.
"Investors are looking beyond the outcome of 2020 into the
recovery in earnings expected in 2021 and 2022."
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.11-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 31 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and 13 new lows.