(Adds market details after close of trading)

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September jobs report expected on Thursday

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Dell drops after downgrade

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) results due on Wednesday

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Indexes: Dow down 1.2%, S&P 500 down 0.9%, Nasdaq down

0.8%

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended sharply

lower on Monday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closing below a

key technical indicator for the first time since late April as

investors braced for quarterly results from retailers and chip

giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) and awaited a long-delayed U.S. jobs report this

week.

Losses accelerated in afternoon trading as all three main

indexes traded below their 50-day moving averages. This closely

followed moving average is seen as a proxy for the

intermediate-term trend. The Dow closed below its 50-day moving

average for the first time since October 10.

Results this week from major retailers Walmart ( WMT ), Home

Depot ( HD ) and Target ( TGT ) will round out the quarterly

earnings season. Shares of Home Depot ( HD ), due to report on Tuesday

before the bell, ended 1.2% lower.

Investors eagerly awaited the September jobs report, which is

due to be released on Thursday after the long U.S. government

shutdown ended last week.

Investors are waiting for two big things: "a look at the

consumer ... and Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings," said Adam Sarhan, chief

executive of 50 Park Investments in New York, noting that "you

have a consumer that is potentially getting weaker, not

stronger."

Also, he said, the market is consolidating after strong

gains this year. The S&P 500 remains up 13.4% for the year to

date.

Nvidia ( NVDA ), the world's largest company by market

value, which is at the heart of Wall Street's artificial

intelligence trade, is due to report after the bell on

Wednesday. Its shares fell 1.9% on Monday and were the biggest

drag on the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

Stocks have been pressured this month by concerns that AI

exuberance has driven up valuations to expensive levels.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 557.24 points,

or 1.18%, to 46,590.24, the S&P 500 lost 61.70 points, or

0.92%, to 6,672.41 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 192.51

points, or 0.84%, to 22,708.08.

It was the first time the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed below

their 50-day moving averages since April 30.

Among the day's gainers, Google parent Alphabet rose

3.1% after Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) revealed a stake of $4.3

billion in the company.

Berkshire also further reduced its stake in Apple ( AAPL ),

whose shares ended 1.8% lower on Monday.

Among other declining shares, Dell Technologies ( DELL ) dropped

8.4% and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) fell 7%, both after

Morgan Stanley ratings downgrades.

Investors also digested views on the outlook for stocks next

year. Brokerage Morgan Stanley expects U.S. stocks to outperform

peers next year and prefers global equities over credit and

government bonds.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 4.03-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 90 new highs and 248 new lows on the

NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,168 stocks rose and 3,577 fell as declining

issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.06-to-1 ratio.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 19.06 billion shares, compared

with the roughly 20 billion average for the full session over

the last 20 trading days.