(Recasts to reflect preliminary close of trading, adds market

details )

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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

By Caroline Valetkevitch

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

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

key technical indicator for the first time since April, as

investors braced for quarterly results from retailers and chip

giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) and also 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.

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 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, "we have got the market consolidating a very

big rally from the April low."

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 on Monday and were among the biggest

drags 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.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 61.44

points, or 0.90%, to end at 6,672.67 points, while the Nasdaq

Composite lost 189.01 points, or 0.82%, to 22,710.70.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 554.34 points, or

1.18%, to 46,592.91.

Among the day's gainers, Google parent Alphabet rose

to a record high 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 lower on Monday.

Among other declining shares, Dell Technologies ( DELL )

dropped after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the AI

server maker to "underweight" from "overweight."

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.