NEW YORK: US stock indexes fell on Thursday as a rally in growth stocks ran out of steam, while economically sensitive cyclicals gained as a fall in weekly jobless claims last week strengthened views about a recovery in the labour market.

Mega-cap technology stocks including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com, Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc fell between 0.7% and 1.7%.

A recent rotation into the growth sector pushed the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to record peaks earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 technology sector index fell 0.9% and was on track to snap a four-day winning streak. Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading lower, including consumer discretionary and communication services.

Value-oriented sectors such as financials, industrials and materials led gains on Thursday, as the Labour Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000 for the week ended July 10, a 16-month low.

The S&P 500 banks index reversed early declines to rise 1.2%, with Morgan Stanley adding 1.4% as it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

At 12:01 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.35 points, or 0.02%, at 34,940.58 and the S&P 500 was down 14.09 points, or 0.32%, at 4,360.21. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 102.25 points, or 0.70%, at 14,542.70.