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* Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) sinks on Chinese regulatory ire
* Amazon leads gains in consumer discretionary
* Alexion Pharma among top boosts on AstraZeneca offer
(Updates with close of trading, volume data and market breadth)
By Karen Pierog and Noel Randewich
Dec 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended lower on Monday, weighed down by Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), while Alexion Pharmaceuticals jumped on a $39 billion buyout offer from AstraZeneca in one of the year's biggest deals.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high before ending lower, pulled down by Walt Disney.
U.S. officials began to administer the vaccine developed by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N and its German partner BioNTech BNTX.O on Monday following emergency-use approval from federal regulators last week. of Disney, down 3.65%, and Pfizer, down almost 5%, weighed more than any other stocks on the S&P 500.
The index's four-day losing streak was its longest since Sept. 21.
The S&P 500 consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD was the strongest gainer among sector indexes, up 1% and lifted by a rise in Amazon AMZN.O , up 1.4%. The energy index .SPNY tumbled over 3%.
The S&P 500 gave up earlier gains of almost 1%. The index has surged about 13% to record highs in 2020, despite the pandemic, which has wrought economic devastation and killed more than a million people.
"While the entire market is pleased, is optimistic, is bullish about the arrival of the vaccine this morning into the U.S., I think the average investor is realizing that this roll-out, this distribution of the vaccine is not going to be a silver bullet, is not going to go as fast as one hopes," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc ALXN.O was among the top boosts to the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC , surging about 30% to a 4-1/2 year high after British drugmaker AstraZeneca AZN.L AZN.O said it would buy the U.S. biotech firm. AstraZeneca's U.S.-listed shares dropped 8%. Disney fell after BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock following its recent gains and said Netflix NFLX.O was again its "top pick." Netflix climbed almost 4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.48% to end at 29,900.96 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.32% to 3,651.92. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 0.61% to 12,453.96.
Also on Monday, negotiators in the U.S. Congress neared agreement on a massive government spending deal that would avert a government shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats insisted they want to pass a fresh round of aid to a coronavirus-hit nation. continued to focus on early voting in a pair of U.S. Senate races in Georgia that will determine control of the chamber and heavily influence lawmaking. company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N dipped after China warned its internet majors of more anti-trust scrutiny, imposed fines and announced probes into deals involving Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd 0700.HK . maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O rallied almost 5% as anticipation of its addition to the S&P 500 benchmark next week offset a report of production delays. on U.S. exchanges was 10.4 billion shares, compared with the 11.5 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.36-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.08-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 211 new highs and 15 new lows.