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November retail sales stronger than expected

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Pfizer ( PFE ) up after in-line 2025 profit forecast

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Dow on pace for ninth straight day in the red

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Indexes down: Dow 0.75%, S&P 500 0.47%, Nasdaq 0.36%

(Updates to mid-afternoon trading)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors turned

cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's last policy announcement

of the year after economic data indicated consumer spending

remained on solid footing.

U.S. retail sales

increased

more than expected in November, buoyed in part by an

acceleration in motor vehicle purchases, consistent with strong

underlying momentum in a resilient economy.

Investors were largely focused on the Fed's policy

announcement on Wednesday, almost completely

pricing in

an interest rate cut of 25 basis points.

Of particular attention will be the Fed's summary of

economic projections (SEP), which may indicate how aggressive

the U.S. central bank will be in cutting rates in 2025.

The Fed

may slow its easing in an economy that appears to have solid

momentum and sticky inflation, and as the incoming Trump

administration is expected to impose policies to stimulate

growth and potentially reignite rising prices.

"This is just kind of standard fare for a pre-Fed day

market where you have just a little bit of uncertainty, people

are not sure how to position ahead of the SEP and ahead of

Powell," said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion

Financial Group in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"Everyone knows we're getting 25 bps ... what Powell is

going to say at the press conference, what the SEP is going to

tell us, those things people are not quite sure of so you have a

little bit of jitters ahead of that."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 327.17

points, or 0.75%, to 43,389.51, the S&P 500 slid 28.73

points, or 0.47%, to 6,045.32 and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 71.21 points, or 0.36%, at 20,102.69.

While the Nasdaq hit a record high on Monday and the S&P 500

is up nearly 27% on the year, the Dow has struggled recently and

was on track for its ninth straight daily decline, which would

mark its longest losing streak since February 1978.

Treasury yields oscillated between gains and losses on

the day as investors braced for a "

hawkish cut

" from the Fed.

Nearly all of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower on the

day, led by a drop of more than 1% in energy. Consumer

discretionary was the sole advancer, lifted by a gain of nearly

3% in Tesla after Mizuho hiked its price target on the

stock by $285 to $515. Wedbush also hiked its price target on

the electric vehicle maker to $515 on Monday.

The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's "fear

gauge," rose above 15 for the first time in nearly three weeks,

and the small-cap Russell 2000, seen as more sensitive to

higher interest rates, dropped roughly 1%.

Pfizer ( PFE ) gained 4.3% after the drugmaker forecast

2025 profit roughly in line with Wall Street expectations.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.66-to-1

ratio on the NYSE and a 1.7-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 19 new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 172 new

lows.