US STOCKS-Wall St struggles for direction after strong rally as virus cases surge

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* Novavax jumps on $1.6 bln govt award for COVID-19 vaccine
* Bank stocks set for steepest drop in 7 sessions
* Indexes: Dow down 0.70%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.60%

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By C Nivedita and Medha Singh
July 7 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was little changed on Tuesday
a day after the benchmark index logged its longest streak of
gains this year, as investors weighed expectations of an
economic recovery against risks from a sharp jump in new
coronavirus cases nationwide.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, on the other hand, claimed another
record level, boosted by shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and
Apple Inc AAPL.O while the Dow Industrials .DJI dropped 0.7%
weighed down by Goldman Sachs GS.N and Boeing Co BA.N .
Florida's greater Miami area became the latest U.S.
coronavirus hot spot to roll back its reopening, while Texas
registered an all-time high in the number of people hospitalized
at any one moment with COVID-19 for an eighth straight day.
Bank .SPXBK stocks, whose performance is linked to the
outlook for the economy, dropped 2.5%. Travel-related stocks,
which were among the hardest hit during lockdowns, also fell.
The S&P 1500 airlines index .SPLCOMAIR shed 3.5%.
"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 11:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 184.71 points, or 0.70%, at 26,102.32, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 1.38 points, or 0.04%, at 3,178.34. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 62.80 points, or 0.60%, at 10,496.45.
"There is an incredible bifurcation in the market between
companies that are technologically adaptive in able to thrive in
a virtual economy and those that still relying on the physical
economy, so you're seeing record split between the Nasdaq and
the Dow, for instance," said Ryan Giannotto, director of
research at GraniteShares ETFs in New York.
Gains for technology .SPLRCT and communications services
.SPLRCS shares capped declines on the S&P 500.
Novavax Inc NVAX.O jumped 28.9% 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 United States. Royal Caribbean Group RCL.N and Norwegian Cruise Line
Holdings Ltd NCLH.N dropped 2.6% and 3% each, even as they
announced a joint task force to help develop safety standards
for restarting their businesses.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.27-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.72-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 65 new highs and 11 new lows.