(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Indexes down: Dow 0.25%, S&P 500 0.35%, Nasdaq 0.40%

*

Tesla up after Musk says committed to being CEO

*

Home Depot ( HD ) pares earlier gains following Q1 sales beat

(Updates with afternoon trading levels)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Kanchana Chakravarty

May 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell on

Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 on track to end its six-day

winning streak as investors awaited commentary from central bank

officials to gauge the impact of U.S. tariffs on the Federal

Reserve's policy path.

The Nasdaq Composite was set to follow the benchmark

index to record its first loss in three sessions, if declines

held.

At least seven Fed officials including St. Louis Fed

President Alberto Musalem are scheduled to speak through the

day.

"With a market that has rallied so much in a pretty

short amount of time on very little news that's substantial,

it's just trying to digest it all and figure out what the next

catalyst is," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at

Dakota Wealth.

U.S. stocks have had a solid month so far, with the S&P 500

now more than 17% higher than its April lows, when U.S.

President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs roiled global

markets.

A pause in the tariffs, a temporary trade truce between the

U.S. and China and tame inflation data pushed equities higher,

although the S&P 500 is still about 3% from its record highs.

Earlier in the week, Fed officials flagged the ramifications

of the latest downgrade of the U.S. government's sovereign

credit rating and uneasy market conditions.

Traders currently expect at least two 25-basis-point

rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve by the end of 2025, with

the first one expected in September, according to data compiled

by LSEG.

Retailer Home Depot ( HD ) pared earlier gains but was still

slightly up after beating Wall Street estimates for

first-quarter sales.

Most megacap and growth stocks fell, though Tesla

was an outlier with a 1.8% rise after Elon Musk said at an

economic forum in Qatar that he was still committed to being the

company's CEO in five years.

Nine of the 11 S&P sub-sectors traded lower, with

information technology, which was down nearly 0.7%,

being the worst hit.

At 11:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 106.45 points, or 0.25%, to 42,684.69, the S&P 500

lost 20.96 points, or 0.35%, to 5,942.64, and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 77.89 points, or 0.40%, to 19,137.57.

The S&P 500 ended flat on Monday as investors assessed

the implications of Moody's downgrading the U.S. sovereign

credit rating to "Aa1" from a pristine "Aaa", citing the

government's $36-trillion outstanding debt and interest.

Concerns around mounting U.S. debt remain in focus, with a

vote on Trump's sweeping tax-cut bill in the House of

Representatives expected this week.

Trump traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to encourage

Republican lawmakers to resolve their differences over the bill

that encompasses much of his domestic agenda.

Preliminary readings of the May Purchasing Managers Index

are due later in the week.

AI-favorite Nvidia ( NVDA ) is scheduled to report quarterly

earnings on May 28.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.08-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and no new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 45 new highs and 31 new

lows.