US STOCKS-Wall St falls as Apple drags, sharp rate cut hopes fade

* Apple falls as Rosenblatt downgrades to 'sell'
* Boeing slips as Saudi airline dumps MAX order
* Fed Chair Powell's semi-annual testimony on July 10-11
* Indexes down: Dow 0.63%, S&P 0.57%, Nasdaq 0.93%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday, dragged down
by losses in Apple and Boeing and as investors cut back bets of
an aggressive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later
this month.
A surprisingly strong June jobs data on Friday has forced
traders to reassess expectations of an aggressive rate cut, even
as a reduction is still expected at the Fed's July 30-31 policy
meeting.
Bets of a 50 basis point cut now hover around 7%, down from
about 20% a week ago, according to CME Group's FedWatch program.
Hopes that the U.S. central bank would cut rates to counter
any hit to economic growth from a prolonged trade war with China
had helped Wall Street's main indexes rebound from a slump in
May and hit record closing highs last week.
The market is carrying over some of the sentiment from
Friday, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National
Securities in New York.
"It's a very light catalyst day... I think the markets
should hold off until we hear testimony from Chairman Powell."
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's semi-annual testimony to the
U.S. Congress on July 10-11 will give investors an opportunity
to gauge near-term monetary policy thinking. Also on tap is the
central bank's June meeting minutes, scheduled for release on
Wednesday.
At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 169.38 points, or 0.63%, at 26,752.74, and the S&P 500
.SPX was down 16.97 points, or 0.57%, at 2,973.44. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 76.06 points, or 0.93%, at 8,085.73.
Technology .SPLRCT fell the most among the 11 major S&P
sectors, weighed down by a 2.2% fall in Apple Inc AAPL.O .
Rosenblatt Securities downgraded the iPhone maker's shares to
"sell" from "neutral", and said it expected the company to face
"fundamental deterioration" in the next six to twelve months.
The energy .SPNY and the defensive utilities .SPLRCU and
consumer staples .SPLRCS were the only major sectors trading
higher.
Boeing Co's BA.N shares slipped 1.1% after Saudi Arabian
budget airline flyadeal said it would not proceed with a
provisional $5.9 billion order for the planemaker's grounded 737
MAX aircraft, instead opting for a fleet of Airbus A320 jets.
Chip equipment makers Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O , Lam
Research Corp LRCX.O and Ichor Holdings Ltd ICHR.O dropped
between 1.2% and 5.6% as D.A. Davidson & Co changed its industry
rating to "neutral".
Symantec Corp SYMC.O rose 3.8% after Jefferies said the
cybersecurity firm is a "logical financial acquisition" amid
reports of Broadcom Inc AVGO.O in advanced talks for a deal.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.30-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 2.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 17 new lows.