US stocks slipped slightly at the start of December as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each eased about 0.4% and the Dow fell roughly 0.7%, with all three benchmarks rebounding from deeper losses earlier in the session as volatility persisted. Caution dominated markets ahead of key economic releases this week, including the delayed September PCE report, all before next week’s FOMC decision. Bitcoin dropped more than 6% to trade below 86,000, extending last month’s break under 90,000 and weighing on broader risk sentiment, dragging crypto linked names such as Coinbase which fell nearly 5%. Broadcom tumbled more than 3% in renewed profit taking across major artificial intelligence winners, while Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla and Oracle also declined, though Synopsys surged nearly 5% after Nvidia announced an investment in the company and Nvidia rebounded by 1% to help steady the Nasdaq. Retailers advanced as the holiday shopping season accelerated, with Home Depot and Walmart moving higher.