US STOCKS-Wall St falls amid worries about China and Greece

* Weekly jobless claims rise unexpectedly

* United Rental falls after talking down May activity

* Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF - news) jumps on forecast

* Indexes down: Dow 0.35 pct, S&P 0.29 pct, Nasdaq 0.29 pct (Updates to early afternoon)

By Tanya Agrawal

May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dipped in early afternoon trading, a day after the Nasdaq closed at a record high and amid concerns about a Greek default, a tumble in Chinese shares and an unexpected rise in weekly U.S. jobless claims.

Global stocks fell on conflicting statements on Greece's long-running debt talks with creditors and after Chinese brokers tightened margin rules.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose to 282,000 last week, but remained below 300,000, a level deemed consistent with a strengthening labor market.

The report is the latest in a string of data that investors have been perusing for signs of an economic pick up to gauge when interest rates will be increased.

"There is going to be a knee-jerk reaction anytime the Fed raises rates," said Jon Maxson, partner at Beacon Capital Management in Nashville, which oversees $500 million.

"The Fed is trying to plan this as well as they can, I think."

At 13:45 p.m. ET (1745 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 64.33 points, or 0.35 percent, at 18,098.66, the S&P 500 was down 6.21 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,117.27 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 15.03 points, or 0.29 percent, at 5,091.56.

Wednesday was the strongest day for the S&P 500 since May 14 and the Nasdaq Composite's strongest since late January, lifting it to its first record close since April 24.

However, low volumes and muted trading activity at the start of summer suggested the gains were not sustainable.

"The stocks are struggling to maintain their swagger and said there is also the seasonality overhang as we go into summer when complacency sets in," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

Nine of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the industrials sector's falling the most at 0.73 percent.

United Rentals (NYSE: URI - news) fell 9.1 percent to $94.92 after executives of the world's largest equipment rental company talked down May activity, according to traders.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - news) fell 2.2 percent to $85.95 and was the biggest drag on the Dow.

Avago shares fell 0.4 percent to $140.87, reversing course after touching a record high. Avago agreed to buy fellow chipmaker Broadcom (NasdaqGS: BRCM - news) for $37 billion. Broadcom fell 2.5 percent to $55.72. Both stocks had risen strongly on Wednesday on reports of an imminent deal.

Abercrombie & Fitch rose 11.4 percent to $21.87 after the teen apparel retailer's upbeat forecast for the rest of the year.

GoPro (Xetra: A1XE7G - news) jumped 7.2 percent to $57.12 on reports that the action camera maker will launch a new spherical camera mount and a drone.

Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,097 to 908, for a 2.31-to-1 ratio on the downside. On the Nasdaq, 1,579 issues fell and 1,108 advanced for a 1.43-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 index showed 13 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 69 new highs and 42 new lows. (Editing by Savio D'Souza)