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* S&P 500 set for over 15% annual gain
* Weekly jobless claims fall for second straight week
* Indexes down: Dow 0.13%, S&P 0.11%, Nasdaq 0.30%
(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Devik Jain and Supriya R
Dec 31 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy
Nasdaq were set to end a year ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic
with strong gains, thanks to unprecedented stimulus and vaccine
rollouts that have boosted hopes of an economy recovery.
After surging to record highs this week in a solid recovery
since March when the pandemic triggered the steepest global
recession in generations and left millions of Americans
unemployed, Wall Street's three main indexes eased just a bit on
Thursday.
"It's end-of-year optimism and the market is looking ahead
after a tumultuous trading year, given the COVID, the election
and the Fed," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines
Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
The S&P 500 .SPX has climbed almost 70% from its March low,
putting it on course for a more than 15% yearly gain.
Seven of the sectors are on track to gain for the year with
tech .SPLRCT set to be the best performer with a more than 41%
jump, while energy .SPNY on course for its biggest yearly
collapse in history.
The Nasdaq .IXIC was set to record a 43% jump in what
could be its best yearly performance since 2009, benefiting from
a surge in tech mega-caps such as Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O ,
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O , Facebook Inc FB.O
and Netflix Inc NFLX.O .
The NYSE FANG+TM index .NYFANG has more than doubled in
value this year.
The blue-chip Dow .DJI is also tracking a modest 6.4% gain
for the year.
"We have several of vaccines and it's a general feeling of
hope this country and the rest of the world will pull out of
this and the economic activity although greatly damaged, will be
back on track sooner than people have predicted," Bakhos said.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Labor Department report showed the number
of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits fell for the
second straight week, but remained elevated more than nine
months into the economic crisis. Near-term expectations of bigger stimulus checks dimmed
after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a quick
vote on Wednesday to back President Donald Trump's call to
increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000 from $600.
Risk assets rallied in November following a favorable U.S.
election outcome and optimism around vaccines rollouts, but the
momentum stalled on worries over fresh fiscal stimulus and a
new, highly infectious COVID-19 variant spreading globally.
All eyes are on two U.S. Senate races in Georgia next week
that will determine control of the chamber and influence
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's ability to enact his
agenda. At 11:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 39.32 points, or 0.13%, at 30,370.24, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 3.94 points, or 0.11%, at 3,728.10, and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 38.54 points, or 0.30%, at
12,831.46.
Six of the major S&P 500 sectors edged lower, with energy
.SPNY , industrials .SPLRCI and materials .SPLRCM falling
after recent gains.
Trading volumes are likely to remain light on New Year's Eve
and the markets will remain closed on Friday.
Shares of Tribune Publishing Co TPCO.O rose 9.4% after its
largest shareholder, Alden Global Capital, offered to take full
control of the owner of the Chicago Tribune in a deal that
values the newspaper chain at $520.6 million. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.02-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE, and for a 1.54-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 11 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 88 new highs and 13 new lows.