(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)*Tech shares gain*Macy's, Lululemon drop on holiday-quarter warnings*Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.1%, Nasdaq up 0.6%NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 index
erased early gains to close nearly flat on Monday as
expectations that the Federal Reserve will become less
aggressive with its interest rate hikes were offset by lingering
worries about inflation.The Dow ended lower, and the Nasdaq Composite ended
well off the day's highs.Investors are awaiting comments Tuesday from Fed Chair
Jerome Powell, who some strategists expect could say more time
is needed to show inflation is under control.Money market bets were showing 77% odds of a 25-basis point
hike in the Fed's February policy meeting.A consumer prices report due Thursday could be key for rate
expectations, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL
Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. "The CPI report this
week is going to be essential for fine-tuning the Fed funds
futures market."Investors also may have sold some shares after recent
strong market gains, said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at
Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago. "You're seeing a
little bit of profit-taking ahead of the CPI number due out this
week."The technology sector gained as Treasury yields
fell. Consumer discretionary stocks also rose, with
Amazon.com Inc up 1.5% after Jefferies said it saw cost
pressures easing for the e-commerce giant in the second half of
the year.Also, S&P 500 companies are about to kick off the
fourth-quarter earnings period, with results from top U.S. banks
expected later this week.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 112.96 points,
or 0.34%, to 33,517.65, the S&P 500 lost 2.99 points, or
0.08%, to 3,892.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 66.36
points, or 0.63%, to 10,635.65.Shares of Broadcom Inc fell in late trading to end
down 2% after Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter,
reported that Apple Inc plans to drop a Broadcom chip
in 2025 and use an in-house design instead.Friday's jobs report, which showed a moderation in wage
increases, lifted hopes that the Fed might become less
aggressive in its rate-hike push to reduce inflation.Tesla Inc shares rose 5.9% after the
electric-vehicle maker indicated longer waiting times for some
versions of the Model Y in China, signaling the recent price
cuts could be stoking demand.Macy's Inc fell 7.7% and Lululemon Athletica Inc
dropped 9.3% after both retailers issued disappointing
holiday-quarter forecasts.Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.35 billion shares, compared
with the 10.90 billion average for the full session over the
last 20 trading days.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a
1.85-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.48-to-1 ratio favored advancers.The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and two new
lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 129 new highs and 32 new
lows.
(Additional reporting by Shubham Batra, Amruta Khandekar and
Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and
Richard Chang)