US STOCKS-Wall Street mixed as investors weigh spike in virus cases

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* Moderna up on report Israel in talks to buy its vaccine
* S&P 500 flirts with 200-day moving average
* Indexes mixed: Dow down 0.18%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.62%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
June 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were mixed in choppy
afternoon trading on Monday, with the benchmark S&P 500 paring
early losses to trade flat as investors weighed the economic
outcome of a spike in new coronavirus cases in China and parts
of the United States.
Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 fell as much as 2.5% as it
flirted with its 200-day moving average, an indicator of
long-term trend.
The Dow edged lower while Nasdaq was up 0.6%, helped by
Tesla Inc TSLA.O , Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and Zoom Video
Communications ZM.O .
"Some technical levels are causing a little bit of
volatility primarily because the stock market went up as fast as
it did," said Jimmy Lee, chief executive officer of The Wealth
Consulting Group, a wealth management firm based in Las Vegas.
"It's a good reason to take some profits on potentially a
second wave of coronavirus and the fear of more government
shutdown."
Beijing reinstated curbs after an unexpected spike in cases
and the United States reported a record number of new infections
and hospitalisations in more states. of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus along
with easing of restrictions had lifted the S&P 500 as much as
47.5% from the pandemic low in March and helped the tech-heavy
Nasdaq confirm a bull market last week.
But, a dismal economic outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve
and jitters over a resurgence in coronavirus cases sent the Wall
Street's main indexes for their worst week since March.
At 13:25 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 46.96 points, or 0.18%, at 25,558.58, the S&P 500
.SPX was up 1.15 points, or 0.04%, at 3,042.46. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 59.68 points, or 0.62%, at 9,648.48.
In contrast, the small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT climbed about
1.2%. The CBOE volatility index .VIX , a gauge of investor
anxiety, eased after jumping to a near two-month high of 44.44.
Nine of the major S&P sectors were higher led by a 0.5% rise
in industrials .SPLRCI .
Moderna Inc MRNA.O rose 5.6% after a report said Israel is
in advanced talks with the drug developer to buy its coronavirus
vaccine. Beginning Tuesday, investors will focus on Fed Chair Jerome
Powell's two-day congressional testimony on the monetary policy
report.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.33-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 33 new highs and 10 new lows.

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