US STOCKS-Wall St slips as surging virus cases dent recovery hopes

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* Weekly jobless claims rise less than expected
* Walgreens drops after swinging to quarterly loss
* Cisco rises after Morgan Stanley upgrade
* Indexes off: Dow 1.33%, S&P 0.88%, Nasdaq 0.25%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and C Nivedita
July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes fell in choppy trading
on Thursday as fears of another lockdown to contain a surge in
coronavirus cases overshadowed data pointing to a declining
trend in weekly jobless claims.
The Labor Department's most timely data on the economy
showed 1.31 million Americans filed for state unemployment
benefits in the latest week, down from 1.43 million in the
previous week. However, the labor market remains fragile as the United
States reported more than 60,000 new COVID-19 infections on
Wednesday, setting a single-day global record. "We are reaching levels of unemployment that are likely to
persist until a more true reopening can occur, either with a
vaccine, novel treatment, or time," said Jamie Cox, managing
partner for Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia.
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
lows and is now about 7% below its February record high.
The three main indexes charged ahead in the final hour of
trading on Wednesday, with Nasdaq logging its fourth record
closing high this month, powered by technology stocks.
At 10:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 346.80 points, or 1.33%, at 25,720.48, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 27.98 points, or 0.88%, at 3,141.96, and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 26.10 points, or 0.25%, at
10,466.40.
All the 11 major S&P sectors were trading lower, led by
financials .SPSY and industrials .SPLRCI .
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O rose 2.3% as Morgan Stanley
upgraded its rating on the network gear maker's stock to
"overweight".
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O fell 9.1% 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. The second-quarter earnings season is expected to begin in
earnest next week. Analysts expect profits for S&P 500 companies
to plunge about 44%, the steepest drop since the 2008 financial
crisis, according to IBES Refinitiv data. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 3.18-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.88-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 30 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 102 new highs and 14 new lows.