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Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) to close nearly 1,000 stores, shares drop

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Intel ( INTC ) down on report Pentagon scraps plan of $2.5 bln chip

grant

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Tesla slides after Wells Fargo rating cut

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Indexes: Dow up 0.38%, S&P off 0.14%, Nasdaq down 0.55%

(Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET/1355 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johann M Cherian

March 13 (Reuters) -

The tech-laden Nasdaq fell on Wednesday as rising U.S.

Treasury yields hit market-moving growth stocks, while investors

awaited more data this week for clues on the timing of the

Federal Reserve's interest-rate cuts.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced, but the

heavyweight technology sector was down 1.4%.

The yield on treasury notes ticked higher across the board,

pressuring rate-sensitive megacaps such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), Meta

Platforms ( META ) and Apple ( AAPL ), which fell between 3.1%

and 0.9%.

Chip stocks such as Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and

Micron Technology ( MU ) fell over 4% each, steering a 2.6%

decline in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index.

The benchmark S&P 500 climbed to a fresh record high on

Tuesday after slightly hot consumer price data failed to dampen

hopes of rate cuts in the coming months.

Despite inflation being well above the central bank's 2%

target, investors have taken solace in the fact that the Fed

still sees credit conditions easing in 2024, while the economy

remains resilient.

"Traders weren't thrilled with yesterday's U.S. CPI

(Consumer Price Index) report, but weren't despondent either,"

said Thierry Wizman, Global FX & Rates strategist at Macquarie.

The Fed is still likely to ease at mid-year, but next

week's meeting may extend the "hawkish" wait-and-see mode from

central bank Chair Jerome Powell, he said.

While the central bank is widely expected to stay put on

interest rates in March, traders now see a 65% chance of the

first rate cut coming in June, the CME FedWatch Tool showed.

Producer prices data for February is due on Thursday, which

could offer more insights into inflation in the world's largest

economy, ahead of the Fed meeting next week.

Investors are also awaiting the GTC developer conference

that runs from March 18 to 21 for announcements related to

artificial intelligence.

At 11:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

was up 147.19 points, or 0.38%, at 39,152.68, the S&P 500

was down 7.15 points, or 0.14%, at 5,168.12 and the Nasdaq

Composite was down 89.49 points, or 0.55%, at 16,176.15.

Among others, Tesla shed 2.7% after brokerage Wells

Fargo downgraded the electric-vehicle maker to "underweight"

from "equal weight".

Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) slumped 14.3% after the discount chain

store group said it would close nearly 1,000 stores and incurred

a net loss in the previous quarter, hurt by an over-$1 billion

goodwill impairment charge. Peer Dollar General also slid

3.1%.

McDonald's fell 3.0% after its CFO said the

fast-food giant's international sales could fall sequentially in

the current quarter, pressured by the conflict in the Middle

East and demand weakness in China.

Intel ( INTC ) eased 2.7% after a report said the Pentagon

had pulled out of a plan to spend as much as $2.5 billion on a

chip grant to the company.

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ), Marathon

Digital ( MARA ) and Bit Digital ( BTBT ) added between 3.1% and

8.9% as bitcoin hit a fresh record high.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.14-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 45 new 52-week highs and no new lows,

while the Nasdaq recorded 68 new highs and 77 new lows.