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Weekly jobless claims at 219,000, below estimates

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Major banks, business group sue Fed over annual "stress

tests"

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Futures down: Dow and S&P 500 down 0.34% each, Nasdaq

0.42%

(Updates before markets open)

By Medha Singh and Purvi Agarwal

Dec 26 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes were set for a slightly lower

open on Thursday in light trading volumes after the Christmas

holiday, as investors took stock of their portfolios and looked

for a year-end boost from the so-called Santa Claus rally.

Most megacap stocks were lower, with Nvidia ( NVDA )

dropping 0.8% in premarket trading, while Google-parent Alphabet

shed 0.5%.

Yields on government bonds inched higher across the board,

with the one on the benchmark 10-year note last at

4.6312%.

"Now we're at an inflection point on the Treasury yield,

especially the 10-year ... any move higher and it tends to

create equity market weakness and that's what I'm seeing this

morning," said George Cipolloni, portfolio manager at Penn

Mutual Asset Management.

At 08:33 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 148 points,

or 0.34%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 21 points, or 0.34%

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 88 points, or 0.42%.

Markets in Europe, London and parts of Asia were closed on

Thursday.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq wrapped up Tuesday's truncated

session with a third straight day of gains, lifted by megacap

and growth stocks.

Gains in Apple ( AAPL ), Tesla, Alphabet,

Amazon ( AMZN ), Nvidia ( NVDA ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta

Platforms ( META ) accounted for more than half of the S&P 500's

28.4% total return this year, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices

Senior Index Analyst Howard Silverblatt.

Without the Magnificent Seven stocks, the benchmark index's

total return would have been 13.2% in 2024, Silverblatt added.

U.S. stocks have hit a speed bump this month following

an election-led rally in November as they contend with the

Federal Reserve's projection of fewer interest rate cuts in

2025.

The three main indexes have hit multiple record highs

this year on a lower interest rate environment and the prospects

of artificial intelligence boosting corporate profits. However,

investors are starting to question the sustainability of the

rally due to stretched valuations and as megacaps continue to

attract more investor funds.

Yet, investors are hoping for a typically strong finish

in the final days of the year - called the "Santa Clause rally"

- a pattern attributed to low liquidity, tax-loss harvesting and

investing of year-end bonuses.

The S&P 500 has gained an average of 1.3% in the last

five trading days of December and the first two days of January

since 1969, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. A December

without a Santa rally has been followed by a weaker-than-average

year, data from LPL Financial going back to 1950 showed.

Meanwhile, a Labor Department report showed the number of

new Americans filing for jobless benefits last week fell to

219,000, compared with the 224,000 expected by economists in a

Reuters poll.

Separately, major banks and business groups sued the Federal

Reserve on Tuesday, alleging the U.S. central bank's annual

"stress tests" of Wall Street firms violate the law.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks were down after bitcoin fell

over 3%. Coinbase Global ( COIN ) was off 2%, while Riot

Platforms ( RIOT ) and Mara Holdings ( MARA ) shed over 2.5%

each.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru;

Editing by Anil D'Silva)