*
Key jobs report shows strong pace of hiring in March
*
Semiconductor stocks up; Samsung plans to cut chip output
*
Indexes down: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.61%, Nasdaq 0.96%
(Adds details, comments; updates prices throughout)
By Ankika Biswas and Sruthi Shankar
April 10 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq led losses among Wall
Street's main indexes on Monday, with technology stocks taking a
hit on concerns that the Federal Reserve will continue to hike
interest rates after Friday's jobs data indicated a resilient
labor market.
Growth stocks such as Apple Inc , Microsoft Corp and Alphahet Inc dropped around 2% each,
while information technology and communication
services sectors lost 0.8% and 1.0%, respectively.
These, coupled with a 2% fall in Tesla Inc on
profitability concerns following the electric-vehicle maker's
latest round of price cuts in the U.S., pulled the Nasdaq down 0.7%.
Rate-sensitive real-estate stocks also shed 0.9%.
U.S. employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in March,
data on Friday showed, pushing the unemployment rate down to
3.5% and raising odds of the Fed hiking rates one more time next
month.
"While the Fed will raise rates by 25 basis points in May,
there is a good chance that it will be the last for this
tightening cycle and could end up taking longer for them to
start cutting rates than investors have been anticipating," said
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New
York.
Several economic indicators last week, including weak
private payrolls and job openings data, initially raised hopes
of a pause to the market-punishing rate hikes amid the recent
banking sector turmoil.
However, the odds of a 25-basis point rate hike by the Fed
in May rose to 68% after Friday's jobs data, according to CME
Group's Fedwatch tool, from 57% last week.
Focus this week will shift to U.S. consumer and producer
prices data, the Fed's March meeting minutes and quarterly
results from big U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co .
Analysts expect profits of S&P 500 companies to shrink 5.2%
in the first quarter, as per Refinitiv estimates, a reversal
from the 1.4% growth forecast at the start of the year.
Most U.S. banks are likely to report lower quarterly
earnings and face a dour outlook, with the recent regional
banking crisis and a slowing economy expected to hurt
profitability.
At 12:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 40.48 points, or 0.12%, at 33,444.81, the S&P 500 was down 25.02 points, or 0.61%, at 4,080.00, and the
Nasdaq Composite was down 115.49 points, or 0.96%, at
11,972.46.
However, a near 3% rise in construction and mining equipment
maker Caterpillar Inc , following three straight sessions
of losses, helped the Dow Jones stave off a steeper fall.
Charles Schwab Corp gained 3.3% after the financial
broker on Thursday disclosed upbeat new client assets inflow in
March.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co jumped 5.7% after a
report that Exxon Mobil Corp held preliminary talks with
the company about a possible acquisition of the shale oil
producer.
Micron Technology Inc and Western Digital Corp surged 7.9% and 8.9%, respectively, on Samsung
Electronics Co Ltd's plans to cut chip production.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.07-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 30 new highs and 108 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Additional reporting by Medha Singh; Editing by Arun Koyyur and
Shounak Dasgupta)
