US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 end lower on fears over surging virus cases but Nasdaq hits record high

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* Weekly jobless claims rise less than expected
* Walgreens drops after swinging to quarterly loss

(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
July 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow dropped on Thursday
as investors worried about another round of business shutdowns
to contain a surge in coronavirus cases and began to shift their
focus to earnings, though the Nasdaq registered another record
closing high.
The United States saw more than 60,000 new COVID-19
infections on Wednesday, setting a single-day global record
while Florida and Texas reported a record one-day increase in
deaths. Investors also began to turn their focus to the
second-quarter earnings season, which shifts into higher gear
next week. S&P 500 companies are expected to post the biggest
quarterly decline in earnings since the financial crisis, based
on IBES data from Refinitiv. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O tumbled 8.2% after it
reported a quarterly loss compared with a profit a year earlier,
hurt by non-cash impairment charges of $2 billion as COVID-19
disrupted business at its Boots UK division. "I expect a lot of confusing numbers and guidance. COVID is
certainly not behind us in any way shape or form, so maybe the V
gets elongated some," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase
Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Nasdaq hit another record high, however, helped by gains
in Amazon.com AMZN.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Apple Inc
AAPL.O .
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
360.64 points, or 1.38%, to 25,706.64, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
17.74 points, or 0.56%, to 3,152.2 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 55.25 points, or 0.53%, to 10,547.75.
Helping stocks early in the day was data showing the number
of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped to a near
four-month low last week, but a record 32.9 million people were
collecting unemployment checks in the third week of June.
A batch of upbeat economic data including the record pace of
job additions in June has underscored that the stimulus-fueled
domestic economy was on the path to recovery.
The benchmark S&P 500 has risen more than 40% from its March
closing lows.
In a bullish signal for near-term momentum, the benchmark
S&P 500's chart formed a "golden cross" pattern, in which its
50-day moving average vaulted above the 200-day moving average.