US STOCKS-Wall St struggles for direction as investors await key economic data

By Twesha Dikshit and Nikhil Sharma

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street indexes were mixed in choppy trading on Monday, following a rough week marked by AI-sparked tech rout, while investors zeroed in on crucial economic data that could shed light on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 168.67 points, or 0.34%, to 49,947.00. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.63 points, or 0.04%, to 6,929.67, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 17.84 points, or 0.08%, to 23,049.06.

Consumer discretionary .SPLRCD led the declines, down 1.3%. Tech .SPLRCT was up 0.7%.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rebounded on Friday after three consecutive sessions of losses driven by a selloff in technology shares, while the Dow closed above 50,000 points for the first time.

Several software companies bore the brunt of last week's turbulence, hammered by concerns that fast-advancing AI could intensify competition and squeeze margins. A handful of recent mega-cap results only exacerbated investor worries over Big Tech's ambitious capex plans, with Amazon AMZN.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O, Meta META.O and Microsoft MSFT.O together poised to spend around $650 billion in the race to dominate AI.

"Investors are less comfortable with the amount of spending, but more comfortable with those companies that can do it with free cash flow, versus those having a pile of debt on their balance sheets," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

The next big test for AI shares will be chip giant Nvidia's NVDA.O earnings later this month, with investors increasingly demanding measurable gains from capital expenditures. Nvidia was up 3%.

Focus will also be on the January nonfarm payrolls report due on Wednesday, which was delayed by a partial government shutdown, and the closely watched January Consumer Price Index on Friday.

Markets are currently pricing in the year's first rate cut in June, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool, which could be when Kevin Warsh, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for Fed chair, takes over.

Among stock movers, Hims & Hers Health HIMS.N sank 26%. Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO sued the telehealth firm for patent infringement after the U.S. firm launched, then canceled, a $49 copy of the Danish drugmaker's weight-loss pill Wegovy following backlash from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N rose 2.1%. The company will buy Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion in cash.

Workday WDAY.O slid 6.5% after the human resources software provider announced co-founder Aneel Bhusri will return as its CEO.

Apollo Global Management APO.N rose 1.5% after the asset manager reported a 13% rise in fourth-quarter profit.

Kyndryl KD.N dropped almost 53% after the IT services provider delayed its quarterly filing and flagged material weakness in its financial reporting.

Kroger's KR.N shares added 7.5% after the grocery giant named former Walmart executive Greg Foran as its CEO.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.43-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 70 new highs and 74 new lows.