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Nike ( NKE ) gains after Jefferies upgrades to 'buy'

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Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) hits record high after record Q4 profit

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Nvidia ( NVDA ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) close lower

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Indexes: Dow up 0.08%, S&P 500 down 0.50%, Nasdaq down

1.21%

(Updates with closing details)

By Sinéad Carew and Johann M Cherian

Feb 24 (Reuters) -

The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1% on Monday, with big

technology stocks creating the biggest drag as investors worried

about demand for technology supporting artificial intelligence

while they waited for results from market heavyweight Nvidia ( NVDA ).

The S&P 500 closed slightly lower, marking its third

straight day of declines, while the Dow managed to eke out a

tiny gain. It was also Nasdaq's third consecutive loss and its

fourth daily drop of more than 1% so far in February.

Investors were concerned about future demand for Nvidia's ( NVDA )

pricey AI chips as they awaited its quarterly results

on Wednesday. Worries about hefty spending on the technology

have mounted since low-cost AI models from China's DeepSeek

rattled the industry in January.

Adding to uncertainty, a TD Cowen analyst note published

late on Friday reported that Microsoft Corp ( MSFT ) has

scrapped leases for sizeable data center capacity in the U.S.,

suggesting a potential oversupply of AI infrastructure.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) said its plan to invest over $80 billion in AI and

cloud capacity this fiscal year was intact but that it "may

strategically pace or adjust" infrastructure in some areas.

"Markets are already jittery and looking for a reason to

take profits," said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at

Cetera Investment Management, noting that any question about AI

is seen as a reason to take profits since the technology has

driven market growth for the last few years.

Along with worries about tariffs and inflation,

investors are getting more anxious about economic growth after

last week's batch of weak economic data and a disappointing

forecast from Walmart ( WMT ).

"Volatility is being driven by market uncertainty about

whether we're facing a growth scare or an inflation scare," said

Goldman.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.19 points,

or 0.08%, to 43,461.21, the S&P 500 lost 29.88 points, or

0.50%, to 5,983.25 and the Nasdaq lost 237.08 points, or

1.21%, to 19,286.93.

The more defensive healthcare index led

percentage gains, closing up 0.75% while technology

was the biggest laggard, ending down 1.43%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was the S&P 500's biggest index point drag,

ending the session down 3.1%, and it was followed by chip maker

Broadcom Inc ( AVGO ), down 4.9%, Amazon.com ( AMZN ), down

1.8%. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares ended down 1%.

The tech sector's biggest percentage decliner with, a

10.5% drop, was another popular AI stock, Palantir Technologies ( PLTR )

.

"The dominance of the AI tech trade has run its course,

not that these companies aren't great stocks. We're headed for a

major digestion phase," said Peter Boockvar, CIO at Bleakley

Financial Group.

On the data front, the Personal Consumption Expenditure

index - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge - is

expected on Friday and could help markets gauge the timing of

the central bank's first rate cut this year.

Interest rate futures indicate trader expectations that the

Fed will leave borrowing costs unchanged until June, according

to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

In individual stocks, Apple ( AAPL ) finished up 0.7% after

the iPhone maker unveiled plans to spend $500 billion in U.S.

investments in the next four years, including setting up a

factory in Texas for AI servers.

Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) shares hit record highs

in early trading, after Warren Buffett's conglomerate reported a

record annual profit and its class B shares ended up more than

4%.

Nike ( NKE ) finished up 4.9% after Jefferies raised its

rating to "buy" from "hold".

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.25-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE where there were 90 new highs and 134 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 1,518 stocks rose and 2,888 fell as

declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.9-to-1 ratio. The

S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows while the

Nasdaq recorded 40 new highs and 232 new lows.

On U.S. exchanges about 15.32 billion shares changed

hands compared with the 15.34 billion average for the last 20

sessions.