Dow Has 9th Drop in a Row for First Time Since 1978

US stock indexes closed lower on Tuesday and gave back some of their stellar gains for the year.

• The S&P 500 fell 23.47 points, or 0.4%, to 6,050.61, though it's still near its all-time high set earlier this month.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 267.58 points, or 0.6%, to 43,449.90. The drop made it the ninth losing day in a row for the index, which hadn't happened since 1978.
• The Nasdaq composite fell 64.83 points, or 0.3%, to 20,109.06 % from its record set the day before.

Nvidia, the superstar stock that's been a big reason for Wall Street's run to records this year, fell for the eighth time in the last nine days, the AP reports. It fell 1.2% and as dropped more than 10% from its record set last month

Broadcom fell 3.9% in its first loss following two big gains where it led the market. The tech company's stock leaped 24.4% and then 11.2% in consecutive days after delivering a stronger profit report than analysts expected and giving a forecast for upcoming revenue that was also encouraging thanks to demand for its artificial-intelligence products. Broadcom and Nvidia were the two heaviest weights on the S&P 500 Tuesday.

Pfizer helped limit the losses after rising 4.7%. It gave a forecast for profit next year that was stronger than some analysts' estimates. Other health care stocks were also at the front of the market, including gains of 1.8% for Johnson & Johnson and 0.8% for Baxter International.

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The Fed is widely expected to announce a third cut to its main interest rate for this year on Wednesday, and officials are also scheduled to unveil projections about where they see rates heading in upcoming years. A report on Tuesday showed sales at US retailers grew more last month than economists expected. That could be an indication of an economy that doesn't need much more help from easier interest rates. While lower rates can goose the economy, they can also give inflation more fuel. "The Fed is still on track to cut rates tomorrow, but more strong economic data could make it more likely they'll pause in January," according to Chris Larkin at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. (More stock market stories.)