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Amedisys ( AMED ) gains after extending UnitedHealth ( UNH ) merger

deadline

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All three main indexes set for weekly gains

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Indexes down: Dow 0.23%, S&P 500 0.71%, Nasdaq 1.29%

(Updates after markets open)

By Medha Singh and Purvi Agarwal

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Tech and growth stocks dragged Wall

Street's main indexes lower on Friday, at the end of an upbeat

holiday-shortened week driven by expectations around a

traditionally strong period for markets.

Yields on some U.S. Treasury notes were higher on the day,

with the ones on the benchmark 10-year note hovering

near an over seven-month high it hit on Thursday. It was last at

4.591%.

Rate-sensitive growth stocks dropped with Nvidia ( NVDA )

down 2.3% and Tesla off by 2.8%, while Microsoft ( MSFT )

shed 1.1%.

Among the 11 major S&P sectors, information technology

and consumer discretionary fell the most,

down about 1.3% each, after powering most of the broader

market's gains in 2024.

"It feels like U.S. equity markets and investors are tepid

heading into the end of the year. Nobody wants to be making any

major moves before 2025 when the new administration comes in,"

said Clayton Allison, portfolio manager at Prime Capital

Financial.

At 09:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 98.04 points, or 0.23%, to 43,228.17, the S&P 500

lost 42.91 points, or 0.71%, to 5,994.68 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 259.17 points, or 1.29%, to 19,761.26.

The S&P 500 has still recovered most of last week's

losses that stemmed from the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting

fewer interest rate cuts in 2025 and hurting risk appetite.

All three indexes are set for weekly gains, with the

benchmark index ending Thursday about 1% below its all-time high

of 6,099.97 points clinched on Dec. 6.

With three sessions left to close out the year, markets are

in the stock-buying season called the "Santa Claus rally" - the

last five sessions of December and the first two of January.

Since 1969, the S&P 500 has climbed 1.3% on average in the

seven-day trading period, according to the Stock Trader's

Almanac.

"If yesterday is any indication, we are kind of starting off

not great on a Santa rally. I feel like we got a lot of it

post-election... today is going to give us a pretty good

indication but it feels like more market participants are pretty

cautious," said Allison.

U.S. equities have broadly extended their gains from a

stellar November, when Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential

election, as hopes of pro-business policies under the incoming

administration stoked optimism.

Trading volumes in this holiday-shortened week have been

below the average of the last six months and are likely to

remain subdued until Jan. 6. The next major focus for markets

will be the December employments report due on Jan. 10.

Among individual movers, Amedisys ( AMED ) gained 4% after

the home health service provider and insurer UnitedHealth ( UNH )

extended the deadline to close their $3.3 billion

merger.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.63-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.96-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 32 new highs and 9 new lows.