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* US Senator Manchin’s $ 2,000 Direct Checks – Report
* Non-farming payrolls fall in December
* Tesla market capitalization is $ 800 billion for the first time
* Indices: Dow down 0.5%, S&P down 0.2%, Nasdaq down 0.3% (Add comments, details; update prices)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
January 8 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 withdrew from a record high on Friday after a report that Democratic US Senator Joe Manchin opposed larger direct controls and threw cold water on possible further stimulus payments.
Manchin, a moderate West Virginia Democrat, told the Washington Post in an interview that he would not support a new round of payments at all, despite calls by Democratic leaders for $ 2,000 checks.
Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs as hopes for more fiscal aid obscured data showing that the economy was shedding its lead in December for the first time in eight months.
“Part of the reason the market has been rising over the last few days is the expectation of more stimulus, not only in the short term but also in the long term,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York, said.
“The position that Manchin takes is against short-term stimulus, but it can also have an impact in the long run. The Senate is hardly democratic. Manchin can definitely go the other way.”
Positive COVID-19 vaccine data and expectations of greater fiscal package and infrastructure spending under a Democratic U.S. Congress pushed the S&P 500 above 3,800 points for the first time, putting all three major indices on track for weekly gains.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors declined, with economy-linked financial, materials and industrial industries outperforming their peers and lowering record levels this week by more than 1%.
Market participants looked past a report that Democrats in Congress were planning to file indictments against President Donald Trump on Monday after a violent crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
At 2:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 150.64 points, or 0.49%, to 30,890.49, and the S&P 500 dropped 5.63 points, or 0.15%, to 3,798.16. lose.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 36.49 points, or 0.28%, to 13,103.96, aided by gains in Tesla Inc and Baidu Inc.
Electric car maker Tesla jumped 6%, raising market capitalization to more than $ 800 billion for the first time ever.
According to US sources quoted by Baidu, they achieved about 13% on plans to form a company to manufacture smart electric vehicles.
Declining issues were more than precursors for a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.6-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 83 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 543 new highs and 25 new lows. (Reporting by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Herbert Lash in New York; editing by Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta)