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Kroger ( KR ) reaffirms FY forecasts amid consumer spending

pressure

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Dow up, S&P down, Nasdaq down

(Closing report)

By Echo Wang

June 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended lower

on Thursday, as market bellwether Nvidia gave up earlier gains,

while investors evaluated recent economic data and commentary

from Federal Reserve officials to determine the timing of

interest-rate cuts this year.

Earlier, the S&P 500 hit the crucial 5,500-point mark for

the first time ever, a year-end target multiple brokerages had

forecast.

Shares of Nvidia dropped after rising earlier in the

session. The chipmaker dethroned Microsoft on Tuesday to become

the most valuable public company.

Dell and Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) also

declined after an initial increase, following news that they

received server orders for Elon Musk's AI startup.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment

benefits fell last week, but the latest data showed the number

of people on benefits rolls overall was the highest since

January, a sign that the U.S. job market continues to cool.

Another set of data showed U.S. single-family homebuilding

fell in May amid continued high mortgage rates.

"The news that we got today was just another negative

weakness in the economy", said Tom Martin, senior portfolio

manager at Globalt in Atlanta.

"In the employment report, you're getting those

(unemployment) claims that are not terrible, but it's.. getting

into a territory that's not low necessarily anymore."

Energy and utilities were biggest gainers

among the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, while technology

led the decline.

"There's still a lot of noise in there about supply and

demand still isn't really that strong. But there's just been.. a

willingness to sort of come back to that area where we're going

to be needing energy going forward," said Martin.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said it

would take a year or two to get inflation back to 2%, as wage

growth might still be too high, spurring worries of interest

rates staying elevated for longer.

Money markets currently see a 58% chance of a 25-basis-point

rate cut by the U.S. central bank in September, according to

LSEG's FedWatch data.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

lost 14.33 points, or 0.26%, to end at 5,472.70 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite lost 140.17 points, or 0.78%,

to 17,722.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 302.37 points, or 0.78%, to 39,137.23.

Kroger ( KR ) fell after striking a cautious tone on

near-term consumer spending, as it reaffirmed its full-year

same-store sales and profit forecasts despite topping

first-quarter estimates.

Trump Media & Technology Group ( DJT ) tumbled on potential

equity dilution after the U.S. Securities and Exchange

Commission declared effective the company's filing for a resale

of certain shares and warrants, giving it about $247 million in

proceeds.