*

Weekly jobless claims rise more than expected

*

Nvidia ( NVDA ) dips, back to third most valuable company

*

Nio falls after logging Q1 net loss

*

Lululemon up on topping quarterly estimates on China

demand

*

Indexes: Dow up 0.20%, S&P down 0.02%, Nasdaq down 0.09%

(Updates to 4:10 PM ET)

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq

composite finished a shade lower on Thursday ahead of a key

labor market report, retreating from record highs reached in the

previous session. The Dow was slightly higher.

Benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose early and

reached fresh intraday record highs, but then they retreated as

technology stocks dipped.

Utilities and industrials were the two

other sectors that dragged the S&P 500 lower. The gainers were

led by consumer discretionary and energy.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell 1.1% and was back to being the world's

third most valuable company the day after it jumped ahead of

Apple ( AAPL ) to take second place.

Investors will watch Friday's crucial U.S. nonfarm payrolls

report. The weekly jobless claims report was the latest data to

indicate labor market easing, which could allow the Federal

Reserve begin cutting interest rates. The European Central Bank

delivered its first interest rate cut since 2019.

"It's a little bit of a pause before non-farm," said Bill

Strazzullo, chief market strategist at Bell Curve Trading in

Boston. "It's not unusual. We had a big day yesterday and today

people are getting their positions where they want to be before

the payroll number," he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.84 points,

or 0.20%, to 38,886.17, the S&P 500 lost 1.07 points, or

0.02%, to 5,352.96 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 14.78

points, or 0.09%, to 17,173.12.

Gains in Nvidia ( NVDA ) and other AI-related players have largely

driven Wall Street's rally this year, with the chipmaker

accounting for roughly a third of the S&P 500's year-to-date

gains of over 12%.

Traders see a 68% chance of a September rate reduction,

according to the CME's FedWatch tool, and have priced in about

two cuts this year, as per data from LSEG. Forecasters polled by

Reuters also expect two cuts.

"We are in an information vacuum between now and tomorrow,"

said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital in New York.

"But by and large we have entered a global, coordinated central

bank easing policy in the West that excludes Japan, which will

be tightening," he added.

Shares of GameStop ( GME ) surged 47% after the online stock

influencer known as "Roaring Kitty" posted on YouTube that he

would hold a livestream on Friday.

Lululemon Athletica ( LULU ) rose 4.8% after beating

expectations for first-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday.

U.S.-listed shares of NIO dropped 6.8%

after the Chinese electric vehicle maker posted a quarterly net

loss.

Five Below ( FIVE ) slumped 10.6% after the discount store

operator trimmed its annual net-sales forecast.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.05-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,729 stocks rose and 2,445 fell as

declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.41-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 57 new highs and 110 new

lows.

Total volume of shares traded across U.S. exchanges was

about 10.4 billion, compared with the 12.7 billion average over

the last 20 trading days.