US STOCKS-Wall St set to dip after jump in weekly jobless claims

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* Facebook, Tesla extend declines
* U.S. FDA advisory panel meets on Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine
* Futures down: Dow 0.1%, S&P 0.2%, Nasdaq 0.5%

(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
Dec 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open lower on Thursday as a jump in weekly jobless claims
suggested a stalling recovery in the labor market, while
negotiations over fresh economic stimulus dragged on.
The Labor Department's report showed initial claims for
state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted
853,000 for the week ended Dec. 5, compared with 716,000 in the
prior week. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 725,000
applications in the latest week. "The trend in jobless claims hasn't been good and that makes
sense when we look at the path of the virus and the increasing
caseloads and hospitalization rates," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at National Securities in New York.
The faltering labor market recovery and the recent surge in
COVID-19 infections has piled pressure on policymakers to come
up with another rescue package, as most of the financial aid
from the government has dried up.
U.S. lawmakers approved a stopgap government funding bill on
Wednesday that would provide more time for negotiations, but an
agreement has remained elusive due to disagreements over aid to
state and local governments and business liability protections.
"Any good news on the stimulus could usurp everything else
and get us back to focusing on the potential for vaccines and
the economic energy that will get released. But for now, we are
held hostage to the gridlock in Washington," Hogan added.
Wall Street's main indexes have scaled record highs in the
past few weeks as investors bet on a vaccine-linked economic
recovery and shrugged off glum macroeconomic data showing the
near-term impact from sweeping coronavirus-induced lockdowns.
Pfizer Inc's PFE.N shares rose 0.4% in premarket trading,
ahead of a meeting of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) later in the day, to decide whether to
recommend that the agency authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for
emergency use. Some officials said vaccinations could begin as soon as this
weekend if the FDA consented.
Home rental firm Airbnb Inc ABNB.O said on Wednesday it
sold shares in its initial public offering at $68 apiece to
raise around $3.5 billion.
Airbnb's IPO is the biggest by a U.S. operating company in
2020 and its shares are scheduled to start trading on Nasdaq on
Thursday. At 08:34 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 29 points,
or 0.1%, and S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 8.75 points, or
0.24%.
Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 61 points, or 0.49%, as
Facebook Inc FB.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O fell 0.6% and 5.0%
respectively, extending declines from the previous session.
Facebook could be forced to sell its prized assets WhatsApp
and Instagram after the Federal Trade Commission and nearly
every U.S. state filed lawsuits against it. In other market-related news, S&P Dow Jones Indices said it
would remove 10 Chinese companies from its equities indices
following a Trump administration order to prohibit purchases by
U.S. investors of certain Chinese securities.