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Nvidia falls after Chinese regulator launches antitrust probe
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Hershey jumps after report Mondelez exploring acquisition of co
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Indexes down: Dow 0.22%, S&P 500 0.44%, Nasdaq 0.48%
(Updates with mid-session trading)
By Purvi Agarwal and Shashwat Chauhan
Dec 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes slipped on Monday as declines in AI powerhouse Nvidia pressured tech stocks, while investors awaited a key inflation report this week.
Chipmaker Nvidia lost 3.1% after China's market regulator said it had opened an investigation into the company over suspected violation of the country's antimonopoly law, sending the information technology sector down 0.4%.
Peer Advanced Micro Devices also fell 4.2% as BofA Global Research downgraded its rating on the stock. A gauge of semiconductor stocks was down 0.7%.
"A name like Nvidia is coming under pressure because of the sort of retaliatory actions of China and that is putting some pressure on the tech space," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.
"People are just trying to work out what they are going to do between now and year-end ... those that are positioning, are maybe thinking about taking some profit before heading into the next year."
At 11:26 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94.95 points, or 0.22%, to 44,547.57, the S&P 500 lost 27.02 points, or 0.44%, to 6,063.25, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 96.30 points, or 0.48%, to 19,763.66.
Comcast lost 7.6% after forecasting broadband subscriber losses of a little over 100,000 for the fourth quarter. That pulled down the communication services sector
by 1.1%.
Hershey jumped 12% to lead gainers on the S&P 500, after a report said Cadbury-parent Mondelez was exploring an acquisition of the chocolate maker. Mondelez shares were off 2.4%.
On the data front, the consumer prices index $(CPI.UK)$ 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.
Bets of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the upcoming meeting shot up to more than 85% 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 urged more caution around the central bank's monetary policy easing path considering the resilience of the economy.
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 added 6.3% on its planned inclusion into the S&P 500 index.
Interpublic Group advanced 7.2% after a report said marketing conglomerate Omnicom was in advanced talks to acquire the advertising company. Omnicom shares were down 8.7%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.12-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 97 new highs and 34 new lows.
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(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Devika Syamnath)
((Purvi.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com; Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com))
