Feb 8 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 index advanced slightly on Thursday but traded close to the 5,000-point milestone, as investors reacted to earnings reports, a roughly in-line jobs report and remarks from policymakers on interest rate cuts.

Under the hood, small-cap indexes outperformed large caps and semiconductor stocks also outperformed with shares of chip designer ARM Holdings surging after it forecast strong demand for designs related to artificial-intelligence features.

Shares of Walt Disney rose sharply after the media giant's profit beat Wall Street estimates and it announced a $3 billion share repurchase plan, a 50% dividend increase, a gaming investment and plans for an ESPN streaming service in 2025.

Spirit Airlines shares rose as it expects to operate with a positive cash flow from the second quarter after reporting a narrower-than-expected loss.

More than half of the S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly earnings, with 80.6% surpassing expectations, compared with a long-term average of 67%, according to LSEG data.

On the economic data front, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly more than expected last week, suggesting underlying labor market strength.

"In what appears to be a sleepy day there are some things under the surface. There's more of a risk-on appetite. Semiconductors continue to show leadership," said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta.

"We've had such outperformance in megacaps, investors are looking for other opportunities, even in technology they're going down the market cap scale," said Lerner, referring to a stronger gain in the S&P 600 tech sector than the S&P 500 tech sector.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 2.89 points, or 0.06%, to end at 4,998.07 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 37.07 points, or 0.24%, to 15,796.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51.55 points, or 0.13%, to 38,728.91.

The Russell 2000 small-cap index also outperformed along with the Philadelphia semiconductor index.

On Wednesday, the benchmark S&P 500 notched a fresh record high, inching closer to 5,000 points, as investors looked past uncertainty on the timing of interest rate cuts and jitters around the stability of some regional banks.

The S&P 500 energy index led major-sector gains as crude prices rose.

Keeping risk appetite in check, however, New York Community Bancorp lost ground after gaining on Wednesday after the lender appointed a new executive chairman and said it could cut exposure to the troubled commercial real estate segment.

Meanwhile, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said recent stronger-than-expected data on the U.S. economy may be partly due to the difficulty of making accurate seasonal adjustments around the beginning of the new year. PayPal shares sank after a forecast of flat growth in adjusted profit for the current year, dragging on the S&P 500 financial sector.

Ralph Lauren stock rallied following a third-quarter revenue beat, while apparel maker Under Armour made less progress after raising its annual profit forecast.

(Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Matthew Lewis)