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* Boeing says 737 MAX flights should resume in Jan
* Walgreens gains on report of buyout approach
* Utilities, healthcare lag most among S&P sectors
* Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P down 0.17%, Nasdaq off 0.11%
(Updates to late afternoon)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Nov 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes
slipped from record highs on Monday as uncertainty about
progress in the U.S.-China trade talks again rose to the fore
following comments by President Donald Trump, while a jump in
Boeing shares helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average eke out a
gain.
Investor hopes of a "phase one" trade deal have been a key
factor supporting stocks recently, but Trump said on Saturday
that the United States would only make a trade deal if it was
the "right deal" for America, adding that the talks had moved
more slowly than he would have liked. The three major averages posted all-time closing highs on
Friday, and the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX tallied its fifth week
of gains in a row.
"A lot of good news is priced into the stock market," said
Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street
Global Advisors. He pointed to the Federal Reserve's
interest-rate cuts, third-quarter earnings' topping low
expectations, and signs of a bottoming of economic data.
"It all hinges on a U.S.-China trade deal," Arone said.
"Until we get that clarity, I think stocks are likely to trade
back and forth for a little while."
Investors will be watching for any trade commentary from
Trump on Tuesday, when he is expected to speak at The Economic
Club of New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 26.92 points,
or 0.1%, to 27,708.16, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.31 points, or
0.17%, to 3,087.77 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 9.55
points, or 0.11%, to 8,465.76.
Shares of Boeing Co BA.N jumped 5.0% to $368.45 after the
planemaker said it expected U.S. regulators to approve the
return to commercial service of its grounded 737 MAX jet in the
coming weeks, and expects commercial service to resume in
January. Boeing shares are the biggest weight in
the 30-component, price-weighted Dow.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O shares gained 5.6%
after Bloomberg reported that KKR & Co KKR.N had formally
approached the drugstore giant for what could be the
biggest-ever leveraged buyout. Most of the S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with utilities
.SPLRCU and healthcare .SPXHC falling the most.
Investor attention will shift to economic data and testimony
by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the economic outlook later this
week, while a handful of big companies including Walmart Inc
WMT.N , Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O and Nvidia Corp NVDA.O
will report earnings.
The third-quarter corporate reporting season, which is
drawing to a close, has been better-than-expected overall, but
S&P 500 companies are still expected to have posted a 0.5%
decline in earnings, according to Refinitiv data.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.31-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.25-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and one new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 79 new lows.