*

Weekly jobless claims at 211,000, below estimates

*

Tesla slides after deliveries data

*

Crypto stocks rise along with Bitcoin

*

Energy follows oil higher on China optimism

*

Indexes down: Dow 0.63%, S&P 0.61%, Nasdaq 0.65%

(Updates to afternoon trading)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) -

Wall Street see-sawed amid choppy trading on Thursday,

reversing earlier gains as investors embarked on the new year

facing the cross-currents of solid labor market data, a rising

dollar and tumbling Tesla shares.

All three major U.S. stock indexes were last decisively

lower, in an about-face from an earlier rally.

"We had some macro news but somewhat mixed and you know

we have a very strong dollar today," said Peter Cardillo, chief

market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

"There are a few hurdles over the next couple of weeks and those

are next Friday's employment data and the beginning of fourth

quarter earnings."

"In the short term, we're looking at choppiness and

struggle for direction until we get those hurdles out of the

way," Cardillo added.

Shares of Tesla sank 6.5% after reporting its

first annual drop

in deliveries, as incentives failed to stem a decline in

demand for its aging line-up of electric vehicles.

A report from the Labor Department showed

initial and continuing claims

for unemployment benefits both fell last week, supporting

the narrative of a solid jobs market and adding weight to the

possibility that the U.S. central bank could let its key

interest rate stand at this month's policy meeting.

Looking past uncertainties regarding the pace of

interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, policies to be

enacted by the incoming Donald Trump administration and various

hot spots of geopolitical unrest, market participants chose to

focus on the strength of the United States economy.

Wall Street's main indexes notched double-digit gains in

2024, with the benchmark S&P 500 recording its best two-year run

since 1997-1998. Those gains were driven by the U.S. Federal

Reserve's first rate cuts in three-and-a-half years, the ongoing

artificial intelligence boom and expectations of pro-business

policies from the incoming Trump administration.

The rally lost steam in the closing weeks of 2024, with

the S&P 500 and the Dow marking declines for December, as

markets priced in the likelihood of fewer rate cuts from the Fed

this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 271.70

points, or 0.63%, to 42,274.41, the S&P 500 lost 35.82

points, or 0.61%, to 5,845.81 and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 124.96 points, or 0.65%, to 19,185.83.

Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, consumer

discretionary stocks were down the most, weighed by

Tesla.

Energy shares, buoyed by rising

crude prices

enjoyed the largest percentage gains.

Apple ( AAPL ) lost 3.3% as the gadgetmaker

offered rare discounts

in China in order to compete against domestic rivals.

Crypto stocks such as Coinbase, MicroStrategy ( MSTR )

and MARA Holdings ( MARA ) gained between 2.1% and

3.1%, tracking higher Bitcoin prices.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.01-to-1

ratio on the NYSE. There were 65 new highs and 85 new lows on

the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,178 stocks rose and 2,163 fell as

advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.01-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and 8 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 51 new highs and 27 new

lows.