NEW YORK: US stock indexes dropped 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 Labour 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 labour market remains fragile as the United States reported more than 60,000 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, setting a single-day global record.

The benchmark S&P 500 has risen more than 40% from its March lows and is now about 7.8% below its February record high. The Nasdaq notched a record close in the prior session and the Dow is about 13.6% from its own February all-time peak.

At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 444.06 points, or 1.70%, at 25,623.22, the S&P 500 was down 40.17 points, or 1.27%, at 3,129.77. The Nasdaq Composite was down 58.12 points, or 0.55%, at 10,434.38.