Thursday's early afternoon trade: S&P flat as Congress wrangles over stimulus

NEW YORK: The S&P 500 treaded water on Thursday as investors awaited a new fiscal aid package to prop up the economy, with data showing a staggering 31.3 million Americans were receiving unemployment checks in mid-July. The tech-heavy Nasdaq clinched a new record high in early trading. The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow were about 2% and 8% away from their own peaks scaled in February.

Economic data released on Thursday painted a mixed picture as Labour Department numbers showed a first fall in jobless claims in three weeks, while a separate report showed a 54% surge in job cuts announced by employers in July. The focus now shifts to July jobs report on Friday.

Top congressional Democrats and White House officials will try again on Thursday to find a compromise on major issues including the size of a federal benefit for the unemployed as they work towards a relief legislation. But Wall Street's main indexes are set for a second straight weekly gain, powered by heaps of fiscal and monetary stimulus and better-than-feared second-quarter earnings.

The corporate results season is now in its final stretch, with about 424 S&P 500 firms having reported so far. Earnings have been about 22.5% above analyst expectations, according to IBES Refinitiv data, the highest on record since 1994. At 12:51 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 29.83 points, or 0.11%, at 27,231.35, the S&P 500 was down 0.94 points, or 0.03%, at 3,326.83. The Nasdaq Composite was up 34.83 points, or 0.32%, at 11,033.23, supported by gains in Facebook Inc and Apple Inc. Healthcare shares fell the most among major S&P sectors.