US STOCKS-Wall Street mixed as shutdowns, jobless data lure investors back to market leaders

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* Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise
* U.S. COVID-19 death toll crosses 250,000
* Indexes: Dow down 0.16%, S&P up 0.04%, Nasdaq up 0.57%

(Updates to mid-afternoon; changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
Nov 19 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq advanced on
Thursday but the Dow lost ground as mounting shutdowns and
layoffs linked to spiraling COVID-19 infection rates turned
investors toward market-leading growth stocks that have shown
resiliency to the pandemic.
Bleak jobless claims data helped capped gains, days after
news of progress toward a coronavirus vaccine sent the S&P 500
to an all-time closing high.
"Investors are still heavily influenced by short-term
outlook for the coronavirus," said Oliver Pursche, president of
Bronson Meadows Capital Management in Fairfield, Connecticut.
"Earlier this week we saw jump on good news about the vaccine,
but now we have record new cases around the country and that's
changing investor sentiment and the rotation that you've seen
out of growth stocks."
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for
unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, the data
painting a grim picture of increasingly elevated layoffs as
spiking coronavirus cases and subsequent shutdowns continue to
hobble the labor market. "There's a feeling that the economic recovery will be slower
than many thought based on the data," Pursche added.
Record infection numbers have prompted schools and
businesses to close their shutters once again, thwarting the
world's largest economy's recovery from the deepest recession
since the Great Depression. With additional fiscal relief now simmering on the
congressional back burner, some market participants are looking
to the U.S. Federal Reserve for signs it could step in with more
monetary stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 47.27 points,
or 0.16%, to 29,391.15, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.57 points,
or 0.04%, to 3,569.36 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
66.93 points, or 0.57%, to 11,868.54.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, energy shares
.SPNY were up the most, while economically-sensitive stocks
such as utilities .SPLRCU and financials .SPSY suffered the
largest declines.
Third-quarter reporting season is nearing the finish line,
with 472 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of
those, 84.5% have beaten consensus, according to Refinitiv data.
Macy's Inc M.N reported a 20% plunge in quarterly
same-store sales and the department store forecast a tough
holiday season. Chipmaker Nvidia Corp NVDA.O forecast a slight dip in data
center chip sales but the company beat quarterly revenue
expectations. L Brands Inc LB.N surged 15.8% after posting
better-than-expected quarterly results and a 56% jump in
same-store sales. Tesla Inc TSLA.O shares rose for the third straight
session to touch a record high, riding the wave of its pending
inclusion in the S&P 500, announced on Monday. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.02-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.09-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and six new lows.