S&P 500, Nasdaq marginally lower as chip stocks fall; focus on inflation data

By Purvi Agarwal and Shashwat Chauhan

(Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were slightly lower on Monday after notching record closing highs in the previous session, as losses in chip stocks including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ) weighed, while investors awaited a key inflation report this week.

The consumer prices index (CPI) data due on Wednesday is among the last major datasets ahead of the Federal Reserve's Dec. 17-18 meeting and could influence the central bank's monetary policy path.

"The thing to watch will be any hint or evidence that core CPI might moderate into 2025 because the Fed will have a hard time continuing to cut at the pace they're on now," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird. 

Bets of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the upcoming meeting shot up to more than 89% after data on Friday showed a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.2% in November, pointing to an easing labor market.    

A host of Fed officials including Chair Jerome Powell last week said that the central bank could afford to be more cautious with its monetary policy easing path, given the resilience of the economy. 

At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.66 points, or 0.13%, to 44,701.18, the S&P 500 lost 6.85 points, or 0.11%, to 6,083.42 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 32.29 points, or 0.16%, to 19,827.48.

Nvidia was last down 2.4% after China's market regulator said it had opened an investigation into the company over suspected violation of the country's antimonopoly law, knocking a gauge of semiconductor stocks down 0.3%.

Another big decliner amongst chips was Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD ), which fell 3.3% as BofA Global Research downgraded its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy".

Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading lower, with utilities at the helm of losses with a 0.6% fall.

Wall Street's main indexes kicked off December on a broadly positive note, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq logging gains in their first week, while the blue-chip Dow ended the week marginally lower.

U.S. equities surged in November as Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election and his party sweeping both houses of Congress raised expectations of a friendlier policy stance towards companies.

Among notable movers on Monday, Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY ) and Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO ) added 8.1% and 3.5%, respectively, on their planned inclusion into the S&P 500 index .

Interpublic Group advanced 9.5% after a report said marketing conglomerate Omnicom was in advanced talks to acquire the advertising company. Omnicom shares were down 6%. 

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies gained after the Chinese Politburo hinted at a shift to looser monetary policy next year and more proactive fiscal policy to spur economic growth. Alibaba (NYSE:BABA ) was up 8%, PDD Holdings climbed 11.3% and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU ) added 7.1%.



Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.16-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.9-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 64 new highs and 15 new lows.

Source: Investing.com