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Indexes down: Dow 0.82%, S&P 500 0.87%, Nasdaq 0.99%

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Crypto stocks drop tracking bitcoin's slide

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U.S. stock markets closed on Jan 9 (Thursday)

(Updates to mid-session trading)

By Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes hit

their lowest point in over a week on Monday, as thin trading

volumes and elevated Treasury yields overshadowed the typically

robust year-end period for equities.

At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 350.71 points, or 0.82%, to 42,641.50, the S&P 500

lost 52.08 points, or 0.87%, to 5,918.76 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 195.71 points, or 0.99%, to 19,526.32.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with consumer

discretionary leading declines.

Growth stocks such as Tesla and Amazon.com ( AMZN )

dropped 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively. Chip company

Broadcom ( AVGO ) lost 2.6%, sending the semiconductor index

more than 1.9% lower.

The weakness was atypical as equities tend to do well in

the last five trading days of December and into the first two

days of January, a phenomenon dubbed the Santa Claus rally. The

S&P 500 has gained 1.3% on average during the period since 1969,

according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

The index has been trading in a bull market for over two

years and is poised to end its second consecutive year with

gains of more than 20%.

However, a rise in Treasury yields since early December

has pressured the S&P 500 and the Dow, setting the

indexes on track for their roughest month since April.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note dipped

on the day to around 4.5%, but was still near its highest level

since May 2024.

Some analysts expect President-elect Donald Trump's

policies to be inflationary and markets have toned down their

rate-cut expectations for 2025 after the Federal Reserve struck

a cautious tone at its recent meeting. Traders now expect the

first reduction in May next year, according to the CME Group's

FedWatch Tool.

"Investors are looking forward to two big things (next

year): whether Trump's policies are going to be pro-growth or

not, and if the Fed is going to continue injecting easy money

into the system," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park

Investments in New York.

"Since the last Fed meeting, the market has been down a lot

because of the concern that the Fed can be more hawkish and less

dovish."

Later in the week, investors will scrutinize the ISM

manufacturing activity survey for December and a weekly report

on jobless claims, ahead of a key employment report due in the

following week.

Boeing ( BA ) dropped 2%. South Korea ordered an emergency

safety inspection of its entire airline operation system after

the country's worst air disaster over the weekend involving a

Boeing ( BA ) plane.

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) lost 6.9%,

Coinbase dropped 5.2% and MARA Holdings ( MARA )

dropped 6.2%, tracking a 2.8% slide in bitcoin prices.

Trading is expected to be impacted by thin volumes in the

run up to the New Year holiday on Wednesday and is likely to

remain subdued until Jan. 6.

U.S. stock markets, including the NYSE, Nasdaq, and CBOE,

will be closed on Thursday, Jan. 9, for a national day of

mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.28-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 2.34-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

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

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 43 new highs and 94 new

lows.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru;

Editing by Devika Syamnath)