US STOCKS-Nasdaq rallies while S&P 500 heads for biggest August since 1984

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* Tesla, Apple advance as stock splits takes effect
* Aimmune Therapeutics soars on Nestle's $2 bln buyout offer
* U.S. suitors for TikTok assets slip as deal may need China
nod
* Dow off 0.63%, S&P up 0.06%, Nasdaq gains 1.03%

(Updates prices, adds analyst comments and market details)
By Sinéad Carew
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - While the S&P was on track for
its steepest August percentage gain in more than three decades
it was largely unchanged for Monday's session as investors took
a pause although the Nasdaq rallied thanks to high-flying stocks
including Apple Inc AAPL.O .
The Federal Reserve's commitment to tolerate inflation and
keep interest rates low, positive developments in vaccines and
treatments for COVID-19 and a rally in tech-focused stocks have
helped the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit consecutive all-time highs.
But while states such as New Jersey continued to ease
restrictions on Monday, investors noted that across the rest of
the country, total coronavirus cases topped 6 million on Sunday
as many states in the Midwest reported increasing infections,
according to a Reuters tally. "After such a strong summer run we're reverting back to the
old pandemic playbook so we see tech outperforming," said Mona
Mahajan, senior U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global
Investors in New York, adding that investors were looking warily
at U.S. and overseas COVID-19 numbers.
"Really that's a defensive move as people think about
stay-at-home more as we're heading toward that fall season."
Nasdaq's top two contributors were Apple Inc AAPL.O , which
rose 4.0%, and Tesla Inc TSLA.O which jumped 8.4%, after their
preannounced stock splits took effect. While the splits did not provide a fundamental reason for
greater interest in the stocks, Mahajan noted that Apple's new
stock price closer to $130 than $500 is likely making the stock
more accessible to retail investors.
At 2:46 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 180.25 points, or 0.63%, at 28,473.62, the S&P 500
.SPX was up 2.22 points, or 0.06%, at 3,510.23 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 121.01 points, or 1.03%, to 11,816.64.
The S&P was on track for a 7.2% gain for the month, its
biggest gain for August since 1984 when it gained 10.6% for that
month.
More than half of the S&P's 505 constituents are still in
the red year-to-date.
"It's back to Nasdaq leadership and profit taking in other
parts of the market," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment
strategist at Charles Schwab.
"I worry that sentiment has gotten frothy and there's a lot
of money in the market that doesn't see any downside risk."
Technology .SPLRCT and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD
stocks outperformed among the major S&P sectors.
The three main indexes are also set for their fifth straight
monthly rise following March lows, even as economic data pointed
to an uneven recovery from the steep downturn.
U.S. presidential campaigns are set to take center-stage in
the coming weeks with market volatility expected to spike ahead
of polling in November.
New entrants to the blue-chip index, Salesforce.com Inc
CRM.N and Honeywell International Inc HON.N slipped 0.8% and
1.8% while Amgen Inc AMGN.O was flat.
Ousted companies Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N , Pfizer Inc
PFE.N and Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX.N also fell.
Aimmune Therapeutics Inc 's AIMT.O shares were up 171%
after Swiss food group Nestle SA NESN.S offered to pay $2
billion for full ownership of the peanut allergy treatment
maker. Shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Walmart Inc WMT.N and
Oracle Corp ORCL.N - all suitors for TikTok's U.S. assets -
fell as China's new rules around tech exports meant a deal with
ByteDance could need Beijing's approval. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.87-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, a 1.33-to-1 ratio favored
decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 18 new lows.