*

Boeing rises on Uzbekistan deal, potential China order

*

AutoZone ( AZO ) falls after Q4 profit falls short of estimates

*

Indexes: Dow down 0.2%, S&P 500 down 0.5%, Nasdaq down

0.8%

(Updates to afternoon)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were lower

Tuesday afternoon as Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares eased and as Federal Reserve

Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the U.S. central bank faces

the delicate task of balancing inflation concerns with signs of

labor market weakness.

Shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell 3.1% after rising in the

previous session, when the chipmaker said it plans to invest up

to $100 billion in OpenAI.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL )

also were lower, while shares of AutoZone ( AZO ) were down 1.1%

after it reported fourth-quarter profit that missed estimates.

In comments prepared for delivery to Rhode Island's Greater

Providence Chamber of Commerce, Powell offered little hint of

when he thinks the Fed might next cut interest rates. The Fed

last week cut rates for the first time this year and indicated

further cuts may be coming.

"Powell has made it very clear there's still uncertainty

with respect to inflation, and inflation still remains elevated.

It's not a deal breaker... but it's not an all-clear, either,"

said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments in New

York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91.96 points,

or 0.20%, to 46,289.58, the S&P 500 lost 34.67 points, or

0.52%, to 6,658.89 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 191.63

points, or 0.84%, to 22,597.93.

The three major U.S. indexes posted record closing highs for

the last three sessions.

Helping to limit declines on the Dow, Boeing gained 1.5% after

it secured an order from Uzbekistan Airways worth over $8

billion.

Investors were also watching shares of Kenvue ( KVUE ), the

maker of popular pain medication Tylenol. They were up 2.7% on

Tuesday. They closed 7.5% lower on Monday ahead of U.S.

President Donald Trump's comments linking autism to childhood

vaccine use and the taking of Tylenol by women when pregnant.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1-to-1 ratio on the

NYSE. There were 516 new highs and 70 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,944 stocks rose and 2,601 fell as declining

issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.34-to-1 ratio.

(Additional reporting by Niket Nishant, Purvi Agarwal, and

Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)