US STOCKS-S&P 500 ends slightly down as investors await Fed rate decision

*

Indexes mixed: Dow falls 0.38%, S&P 500 off 0.09%, Nasdaq adds 0.13%

*

JPMorgan (JPM) shares fall most since early April after expense comments

*

U.S. to allow Nvidia H200 chip shipments to China

*

Warner Bros fight heats up with $108 bln hostile bid from Paramount

*

Investors assess JOLTS data

(Updates with final closing prices, trading volume)

By Sin?ad Carew and Johann M Cherian

Dec 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended Tuesday's session slightly lower as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve would take a hawkish tone even if it cuts interest rates this week, while JPMorgan (JPM) was the heaviest drag on the benchmark index after the biggest U.S. bank warned of hefty expenses for 2026.

The Fed kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday with traders widely expecting a quarter-percentage point rate cut despite inflation still running above the central bank's 2% target.

Policymakers have sent mixed signals about the outlook with some warning that price pressures could easily reaccelerate, while others have been more concerned about the labor market's health.

And Tuesday's Labor Department report did little to clear the air as job openings increased marginally in October, but hiring remained subdued. Separately, a National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) report showed companies intending to create new jobs in the near future.

"It appears that the bias for the market right now is that you're going to see a modestly less dovish Fed because of the job openings," said Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge.

Traders are still pricing in a roughly 87% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. But Schulze said that investors are now expecting "a higher likelihood of a pause after tomorrow's rate cut."

Adding to nerves ahead of the Fed's update - due after its meeting ends on Wednesday - Justin Bergner, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds said that a rally in U.S. Treasury yields was also weighing on stocks.

"It's not surprising the equity rally would stall ahead of the Fed and with bond yields continuing to rally," said Bergner. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was last up on the day at 4.18%, on track for its fourth straight day of gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.03 points, or 0.38%, to 47,560.29, the S&P 500 lost 6.00 points, or 0.09%, to 6,840.51 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 30.58 points, or 0.13%, to 23,576.49.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index hit an intraday record high earlier on Tuesday before paring gains to close up 0.2%.

After rising nearly 1% earlier in the day, the S&P 500 bank index weakened to finish down 2% after JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) consumer and community banking chief Marianne Lake said the bank expects expenses to climb to about $105 billion in 2026, driven largely by growth and volume-related costs.

JPMorgan (JPM) shares closed down 4.7% for its biggest one-day percentage drop since April 4.

Among the 11 S&P 500 industry sectors, five lost ground. Energy, which ended up 0.7%, was the biggest gainer, while healthcare finished down close to 1% and was the biggest loser.

Trading in technology shares was also choppy on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would allow Nvidia (NVDA), the leader in artificial intelligence chips, to ship H200 processors, its second-most powerful AI chips, to China for a 25% fee on those exports. But a Financial Times report said Beijing was set to limit access to those chips, while China hardliners in Washington slammed the Trump administration for its decision.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares ended down 0.3% while the Philadelphia semiconductor index closed down 0.04%.

Investor appetite for corporate spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is likely to face greater scrutiny with results due from Oracle and Broadcom (AVGO) later this week.

Traders also kept an eye on a bidding war between Paramount Skydance (PSKY) and Netflix (NFLX) over Warner Bros. Warner finished up 3.8% while Paramount added 0.5% and Netflix (NFLX) fell 0.08%.

Elsewhere, Campbell's shares ended down 5.2% after the packaged-food maker said it selectively raised prices to counter higher costs. AutoZone (AZO) shares lost 7.2% after its quarterly results missed estimates.

AutoZone (AZO), Campbell and JPMorgan (JPM) were the S&P 500's biggest percentage losers on the day.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 209 new highs and 56 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 2,642 stocks rose and 2,137 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.24-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and eight new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 74 new lows. On U.S. exchanges, 14.50 billion shares changed hands compared with the 17.34 billion average for the last 20 sessions. (Reporting by Sin?ad Carew in New York, Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Aurora Ellis)