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* Boeing says 737 MAX flights should resume in January
* Walgreens gains on report of buyout approach
* Utilities, energy lag most among S&P sectors
* Indexes: Dow up 0.04%, S&P down 0.2%, Nasdaq off 0.13%
(Updates to close of U.S. markets)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Nov 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes fell
from record highs on Monday as uncertainty about progress in
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 slim 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. Violence in Hong Kong during protests also cast a shadow on
sentiment after 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.
"You had negative headlines that were a reason for
consolidation after five weeks in a row where stocks moved
higher," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in
Milwaukee.
"The biggest risk right now is excessive optimism," Delwiche
said. "And so if we can have a few days of consolidation where
it eases some of that, then that's a healthy development for the
market overall."
Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street
Global Advisors, said that "a lot of good news is priced into
the stock market," including the Federal Reserve's interest-rate
cuts, third-quarter earnings topping low expectations, signs of
a bottoming of economic data, and enthusiasm about a potential
resolution to trade tensions.
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 10.25 points,
or 0.04%, to 27,691.49, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 6.07 points, or
0.20%, to 3,087.01 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
11.04 points, or 0.13%, to 8,464.28.
Shares of Boeing Co BA.N jumped 4.5% to $366.96 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, helping the blue-chip index tally another
record close on Monday.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O shares gained 5.1%
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 ended in the red, with utilities
.SPLRCU , energy .SPNY 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
1.36-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.17-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and one new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 64 new highs and 96 new lows.
About 5.5 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges,
below the 6.8 billion-share daily average over the last 20
sessions.