US STOCKS-Wall St slips on losses in healthcare and energy stocks; focus on economic data

By Abigail Summerville and Johann M Cherian

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes slipped on Tuesday, impacted by declines in healthcare and energy stocks, but the Nasdaq pared some losses in the afternoon. Investors evaluated delayed economic data to gauge the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook for next year.

A Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 64,000 jobs in November following a decline in October because of government spending cuts. But the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November against the backdrop of economic uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policy.

A separate report on Tuesday showed retail sales were flat in October, just below an estimate of economists polled by Reuters calling for a rise of 0.1%. Analysts flagged the likelihood of the figures being distorted by slow data collection due to a recent government shutdown.

"This is all fairly old news at this point. Most data points are being viewed in the lens of what they are going to do to the Fed, and the data you got today isn’t likely to move the needle," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

After Tuesday's data, investors are pricing in interest rate cuts of at least 58 basis points next year — more than double the 25 bps signaled by the Fed last week.

At 2 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 303.67 points, or 0.63%, to 48,112.89, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 28.91 points, or 0.42%, to 6,787.60 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 14.24 points, or 0.06%, to 23,043.18.

All of the 11 S&P sectors posted declines except information technology stocks .SPLRCT. Energy stocks .SPNY declined the most as crude prices slid to their lowest level since 2021.

"The crude move today is the one that stands out. Everything else seems like lethargy among investors and just a modest technical move to the sidelines," Hackett said.

Healthcare .SPXHC fell 1.7%, with Pfizer PFE.N down 5.1% after the drugmaker forecast a challenging 2026 due to weaker sales of COVID-19 products and squeezed margins.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hovered near their three-week lows as persistent uncertainty over rate cuts and concerns about lofty tech valuations continued to weigh on market sentiment.

Among other stocks, B. Riley RILY.O jumped 41% after the investment bank reported a profit for the second quarter, compared with a year-ago loss in an overdue quarterly filing.

Comcast CMCSA.O rose nearly 4% after CNBC financial journalist David Faber speculated about potential involvement by an activist investor.

Humana HUM.N lost 5.7% after the health insurer announced leadership changes.

Separately, a Reuters report said Nasdaq NDAQ.O submitted paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to roll out round-the-clock trading of stocks, months after the New York Stock Exchange and Cboe Global Markets announced similar plans.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and five new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 75 new highs and 180 new lows.