*

Indexes mixed: Dow falls 0.38%, S&P 500 off 0.09%, Nasdaq

adds

0.13%

*

JPMorgan ( JPM ) shares fall most since early April after expense

comments

*

U.S. to allow Nvidia H200 chip shipments to China

*

Warner Bros fight heats up with $108 bln hostile bid from

Paramount

*

Investors assess JOLTS data

(Updates with final closing prices, trading volume)

By Sinéad Carew and Johann M Cherian

Dec 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended Tuesday's session

slightly lower as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve

would take a hawkish tone even if it cuts interest rates this

week, while JPMorgan ( JPM ) was the heaviest drag on the

benchmark index after the biggest U.S. bank warned of hefty

expenses for 2026.

The Fed kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday

with traders widely expecting a quarter-percentage point rate

cut despite inflation still running above the central bank's 2%

target.

Policymakers have sent mixed signals about the outlook with

some warning that price pressures could easily reaccelerate,

while others have been more concerned about the labor market's

health.

And Tuesday's Labor Department report did little to clear

the air as job openings increased marginally in October, but

hiring remained subdued. Separately, a National Federation of

Independent Business (NFIB) report showed companies intending to

create new jobs in the near future.

"It appears that the bias for the market right now is that

you're going to see a modestly less dovish Fed because of the

job openings," said Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market

strategy at ClearBridge.

Traders are still pricing in a roughly 87% chance of a

25-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday, according to CME's

FedWatch Tool. But Schulze said that investors are now expecting

"a higher likelihood of a pause after tomorrow's rate cut."

Adding to nerves ahead of the Fed's update - due after its

meeting ends on Wednesday - Justin Bergner, portfolio manager at

Gabelli Funds said that a rally in U.S. Treasury yields was also

weighing on stocks.

"It's not surprising the equity rally would stall ahead of

the Fed and with bond yields continuing to rally," said Bergner.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was last up on the day at 4.18%,

on track for its fourth straight day of gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.03 points,

or 0.38%, to 47,560.29, the S&P 500 lost 6.00 points, or

0.09%, to 6,840.51 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 30.58

points, or 0.13%, to 23,576.49.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index hit an intraday

record high earlier on Tuesday before paring gains to close up

0.2%.

After rising nearly 1% earlier in the day, the S&P 500 bank

index weakened to finish down 2% after JPMorgan Chase's ( JPM )

consumer and community banking chief Marianne Lake said the bank

expects expenses to climb to about $105 billion in 2026, driven

largely by growth and volume-related costs.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) shares closed down 4.7% for its biggest one-day

percentage drop since April 4.

Among the 11 S&P 500 industry sectors, five lost ground.

Energy, which ended up 0.7%, was the biggest gainer,

while healthcare finished down close to 1% and was the

biggest loser.

Trading in technology shares was also choppy on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would allow Nvidia ( NVDA ),

the leader in artificial intelligence chips, to ship H200

processors, its second-most powerful AI chips, to China for a

25% fee on those exports. But a Financial Times report said

Beijing was set to limit access to those chips, while China

hardliners in Washington slammed the Trump administration for

its decision.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares ended down 0.3% while the Philadelphia

semiconductor index closed down 0.04%.

Investor appetite for corporate spending on artificial

intelligence infrastructure is likely to face greater scrutiny

with results due from Oracle and Broadcom ( AVGO )

later this week.

Traders also kept an eye on a bidding war between Paramount

Skydance ( PSKY ) and Netflix ( NFLX ) over Warner Bros.

Warner finished up 3.8% while Paramount added 0.5% and Netflix ( NFLX )

fell 0.08%.

Elsewhere, Campbell's shares ended down 5.2% after

the packaged-food maker said it selectively raised prices to

counter higher costs. AutoZone ( AZO ) shares lost 7.2% after

its quarterly results missed estimates.

AutoZone ( AZO ), Campbell and JPMorgan ( JPM ) were the S&P 500's biggest

percentage losers on the day.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE where there were 209 new highs and 56 new lows. On

the Nasdaq, 2,642 stocks rose and 2,137 fell as advancing issues

outnumbered decliners by a 1.24-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and eight new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 74 new lows.

On U.S. exchanges, 14.50 billion shares changed hands compared

with the 17.34 billion average for the last 20 sessions.