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Banks index drops to seven-week low

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Crypto stocks fall as bitcoin hits one-week low

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GM approves $6 billion share buyback plan

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Indexes off: Dow 0.81%, S&P 0.39%, Nasdaq 0.06%

(Updated at 9:43 a.m. ET/1343 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Johann M Cherian

June 11 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes declined on Tuesday as caution

dampened investor enthusiasm ahead of a crucial inflation

reading and a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve

expected this week.

Shares of Apple ( AAPL ) .1% to hit a record high after

declining in the previous session following its long-awaited AI

strategy, presented at a developer conference.

However, major banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM ),

Citigroup ( C/PN ) and Bank of America ( BAC ) dropped over 2%,

sending the broader banking index down to a seven-week

low.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted record

closing highs on Monday in a choppy session, boosted by shares

of Nvidia ( NVDA ) after its 10-for-one stock split.

Markets are readying for Wednesday's release of the Consumer

Price Index report for May and the conclusion of the Fed's

two-day policy meeting.

"There's an abnormal amount of anxiety around these

numbers and around the Fed meeting, particularly after the jobs

report on Friday," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill

Capital LLC.

The central bank is not expected to change rates but will

release its updated economic projections and "dot plot", which

shows where policymakers expect interest rates to stand over the

next few years and in the longer term.

The CPI numbers and the Fed's projections will be

scrutinized closely as recent reports have sent out conflicting

signals on the economy's underlying health.

"If they (Fed policymakers) take down growth a bit, then

they will have cover to keep two dots on the dot plot, which

would be very bullish for markets. So this trepidation you're

seeing is a fear of 'what if that doesn't happen'," Hayes said.

Markets are pricing in a 54.4% chance of the Fed's first

rate cut happening in September, according to the CME's FedWatch

tool. Rate futures also imply just one cut this year, compared

to two before Friday's bumper Nonfarm Payrolls data.

Other rate-sensitive growth stocks slipped, with Microsoft ( MSFT )

, Meta Platforms ( META ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN )

falling between 0.4% and 0.7%, while Tesla dropped

over 3% to an over one-month low.

At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was

down 316.10 points, or 0.81%, at 38,551.94, the S&P 500

was down 20.73 points, or 0.39%, at 5,340.06, and the Nasdaq

Composite was down 10.86 points, or 0.06%, at 17,181.67.

Ten of the S&P 500's 11 sectors declined, with energy

, utilities and financials all losing

over 1% each. The small-caps Russell 2000 Index also

dropped

1

%.

Prison operators CoreCivic ( CXW ) and Target Hospitality ( TH )

slumped 23.2% and 37.1%, respectively, after the U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would close a

detention center in Texas.

Cryptocurrency-linked stocks slipped as bitcoin slid

3.8%, with bitcoin miners Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) and Marathon

Digital ( MARA ) and crypto exchange Coinbase falling

between 5.7% and 8.8%.

General Motors ( GM ) gained nearly 1% after the automaker

announced a $6 billion share buyback plan.

Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ) dropped 2.75% after brokerage

J.P.Morgan downgraded the steel stock to "neutral" from

"overweight".

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 4.00-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 2.88-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded seven new 52-week highs and two

new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and 53 new

lows.