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Moderna ( MRNA ) slides after cutting 2025 sales forecast

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Chip stocks fall as US tightens grip on AI chip flows

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Health insurers rise after US proposes 2026 payment rates

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Indexes: Dow up 0.71%, S&P 500 slips 0.08%, Nasdaq off

0.7%

(Updates to afternoon U.S. trading)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Monday, with the benchmark

S&P 500 index hitting a two-month low as U.S. Treasury yields

stayed elevated with investors scaling back expectations on the

pace of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Equities have struggled, with the S&P 500 down in four

of the past five weeks as economic data indicated a resilient

economy with nagging price pressures. Comments from Fed

officials have pushed bond yields higher.

Promised tariffs from President-elect Donald Trump have

also fueled worries about inflation.

Treasury yields

edged higher

, with the benchmark 10-year note yield touching

a 14-month high of 4.805% and was last up 0.2 basis point to

4.776%.

Markets are pricing in about 27 basis points of cuts

from the Fed this year, with a 52.9% chance for a June cut.

"There's concern that we're going to see higher

inflation numbers, I'm not so sure that's positively the case,

but that's sort of the concern here and that it's going to be a

while before we see lower rates again," said Tim Ghriskey,

senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

"The inflation issue is out there and higher yields in

general aren't great for either the bond market or really the

stock market. You do have out there as well, Jan. 21st coming up

and you know and we'll see what the new administration does."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 299.81 points,

or 0.71%, to 42,238.26, the S&P 500 fell 4.59 points, or

0.08%, to 5,822.26 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 133.93

points, or 0.70%, to 19,027.70.

The domestically sensitive Russell 2000 index

declined 0.9% to its lowest level since September 2024,

extending Friday's decline which pushed it into correction

territory after falling more than 10% from its November intraday

record high.

The Dow moved higher, buoyed by a 4.3% gain in

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) after President Joe Biden's

administration

proposed 2026 reimbursement rates

for Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers, which

would result in a 2.2% increase in payments.

CVS Health ( CVS ) and Humana both jumped about

7% as the S&P 500 health care sector rose 1.3%.

Utilities and tech led decliners,

both down by more than 1%. Edison International ( EIX ) tumbled

more than 11% after Bloomberg

News reported

the southern California utility was hit with a lawsuit

blaming the company's equipment for igniting one of the

wildfires

consuming parts of the state.

Energy climbed 2.4%, the best performing of the

11 major S&P sectors as crude prices continued their recent

climb

on expectations

that U.S. wider sanctions on Russian oil would force buyers

in India and China to other suppliers.

The Consumer Price Index numbers and the central bank's

Beige Book on economic activity, both due on Wednesday, will

likely help shape views on the Fed's policy outlook.

Chip stocks were mostly lower, with Nvidia ( NVDA ) off 3.1%

and Micron Tech ( MU ) down 4.8% after the U.S. government said it

would further restrict artificial-intelligence chip and

technology exports. The PHLX semiconductor index lost

0.9%.

Moderna ( MRNA ) plummeted more than 20% as the worst

performer on the S&P 500 after slashing its 2025 sales forecast

by $1 billion.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.4-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.79-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted two new 52-week highs and 23 new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 20 new highs and 238

new lows.