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* AT&T jumps after activist Elliott urges asset sales
* Technology top drag among S&P sectors
* Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.2%, Nasdaq off 0.5%
(Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were
down slightly in Monday afternoon trading, led by losses in
technology shares, as the market pulled back following gains
last week.
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O was the biggest drag on the S&P 500
.SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC . Technology stocks .SPLRCT fell more
than 1% and were the biggest drag on the benchmark index.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) fell 2.85% after analysts raised questions about data
on the company's lung cancer drug, dragging the healthcare
sector .SPXHC down 0.84%. Financial stocks .SPSY rose 1.62%, with banks .SPXBK
gaining 3.28% and U.S. Treasury yields gained on rising bets of
an interest rate cut in the U.S. Federal Reserve's September
meeting.
"The market is absorbing those gains from last week, and ...
is in a wait and see regarding the European Central Bank
meeting," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at
Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) in Newark, New Jersey.
The European Central Bank is expected to introduce new
stimulus measures at its meeting on Thursday.
Stocks rose last week on easing U.S.-China trade
negotiations and global political tensions as well as increased
hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut.
Cementing those expectations, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell
said late last week the central bank would "act as appropriate"
to sustain economic expansion, a phrase that financial markets
have read as a sign of an impending of rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 19.37 points,
or 0.07%, to 26,816.83, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.89 points, or
0.16%, to 2,973.82 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
43.17 points, or 0.53%, to 8,059.91.
Earlier on Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
said he did not see the threat of a recession as the Trump
administration seeks to revive trade negotiations with China,
adding he expected a positive year ahead for the U.S. economy.
Energy stocks .SPNY gained along with oil prices.
Among other stocks, AT&T Inc T.N gained 2.66% after
shareholder Elliott Management Corp disclosed a $3.2 billion
stake in the company and pushed for changes. Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co BA.N fell 1.02% after it suspended load testing
of its new widebody 777X aircraft over the weekend as media
reports said a cargo door failed in a ground stress test.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a 1.37-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.42-to-1 ratio favored
advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and three new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 53 new lows.