(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

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Indexes down: Dow 0.3%, S&P 0.46% and Nasdaq 0.64%

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September NFP at +119,000 vs +50,000 estimate

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Walmart ( WMT ) up after raising annual forecast

(Updates prices throughout, adds analyst comment)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Twesha Dikshit

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes lost

ground on Thursday, as early enthusiasm driven by Nvidia's ( NVDA )

earnings faded with investors questioning lofty valuations in

the technology sector, while jobs data clouded the outlook for

further U.S. interest rate cuts.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was last down 1% after surging as much as 5%

earlier in the day. Most chip-related companies also turned

negative, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index

now down 2.1%.

The world's most valuable company forecast sales above

analysts' estimates for the final three months of the year and

surpassed expectations for third-quarter revenue.

"This situation is fine for now, but what happens in three

months' time when the market waits with bated breath for

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) next quarterly earnings update? Even though Nvidia's ( NVDA )

profits and cash flow remain as healthy as an ultramarathon

runner, there are some red flags to consider," said Dan

Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

CEO Jensen Huang shrugged off concerns about AI on a call

with analysts, saying, "We see something very different."

A year-long rally in high-flying technology stocks had begun

to lose some steam as investors became increasingly cautious of

a potential AI bubble.

Concerns about monetization prospects over the technology,

circular spending within the sector and debt issuance have

weighed on markets with the Nasdaq sharply off its

October high and Nvidia ( NVDA ) down nearly 9% from its peak.

"The people who are selling the semiconductors to help power

AI doesn't alleviate the concerns that some of these

hyperscalers are spending way too much money on building the AI

infrastructure," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at

Dakota Wealth.

At 12:11 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 143.02 points, or 0.30%, to 46,000.74, the S&P 500

lost 30.57 points, or 0.46%, to 6,611.59 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 147.42 points, or 0.64%, to 22,419.92.

Most megacap and growth stocks were also well off their

day's highs, with Amazon.com ( AMZN ) down 0.8%.

The information technology index was last down 1%

after jumping early on, while consumer staples was in

the lead.

Walmart ( WMT ) advanced 6% after the retailer raised its

annual forecast for the second time this year and also set a

December date to change its stock listing to the Nasdaq from the

NYSE.

Meanwhile, data showed U.S. job growth accelerated in

September, but the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, suggesting

labor market conditions remained sluggish.

Traders continued to bet the Federal Reserve will skip an

interest rate cut in December, though there was a small

pull-back after the release of the jobs data.

Thursday's report marks the last jobs report before the

Fed's December meeting, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

set to skip its October report and instead combine nonfarm

payrolls for that month with November's report.

Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) dropped 6.3% as the

cybersecurity firm said it would buy cloud management and

monitoring company Chronosphere for $3.35 billion.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.35-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 172 new

lows.