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

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Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.04%, Nasdaq up 0.08%

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Eli Lilly (LLY) gains after Hims abandons $49 weight-loss pill

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Kroger (KR) jumps after firm names ex-Walmart executive as CEO

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Nonfarm payrolls report due later in the week

(Updates on market open)

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 fell 168.67 points, or ?0.34%, to 49,947.00. The S&P 500 lost 2.63 points, or 0.04%, to 6,929.67, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 17.84 ?points, or 0.08%, to 23,049.06.

Consumer discretionary led the declines, down 1.3%. Tech 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), Alphabet , Meta and ?Microsoft 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) earnings later this month, with investors increasingly demanding measurable gains from capital expenditures. Nvidia (NVDA) 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) sank 26%. Novo Nordisk 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 rose 2.1%. The company will buy Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion in cash.

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

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

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

Kroger's (KR) 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. (Reporting by Twesha Dikshit; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shilpi Majumdar)