US STOCKS-S&P ends near flat as Citigroup results sink banks; Nasdaq hits new high

* Boeing drops on report 737 MAX groundings could extend to
2020
* Symantec tumbles on report of end to Broadcom deal talks
* Healthcare shares gain on Gilead investment
* Indexes higher: Dow 0.1%, S&P 0.02%, Nasdaq 0.17%

(Updates to market close)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 index
ended little changed on Monday after oscillating between
positive and negative territory throughout the session after
Citigroup Inc C.N kicked off the earnings season with a mixed
quarterly report.
The bank reported a better-than-expected profit but also a
decline in its net interest margin. The fall in net interest
margin triggered a fall in shares of other banks on concerns
that it would presage lower profits across the industry as
interest rates have dropped. Though Citigroup shares erased nearly all their losses to
end just 0.1% lower, the S&P 500 bank index .SPXBK slid 1.0%.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , Goldman Sachs Group Inc
GS.N and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N - all set to report results
on Tuesday - declined more than 1%.
As a result, financial shares .SPSY fell 0.5% to weigh
most heavily on the S&P 500 among its 11 major sectors.
Gains in technology .SPLRCT and healthcare .SPXHC shares
offset the losses in financial shares, however. Those sectors
helped the Nasdaq edge higher to notch its fourth consecutive
record closing high.
Second-quarter earnings start in earnest this week, and
analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a 0.3% fall in
profit, which would be the first quarterly drop in three years,
according to Refinitiv IBES data.
U.S. stocks will likely be muted until more results come in,
said Oliver Pursche, chief market strategist at Bruderman Asset
Management in New York. The three main indexes ended last week
at record closing highs as dovish comments from Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell bolstered hopes the central bank would
cut interest rates later this month.
"It's definitely a wait-and-see environment," Pursche said.
"Citi was looked at as slightly disappointing."
Yet solid earnings could give U.S. stocks a further boost,
said Lamar Villere, portfolio manager of the Villere Balanced
Fund in New Orleans.
"We think earnings are going to be generally positive this
season," he said. "We've been on a tear this year, but we still
have some room to go."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 27.13 points,
or 0.1%, to 27,359.16, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.53 point, or
0.02%, to 3,014.3 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 14.04
points, or 0.17%, to 8,258.19.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O shares rose 2.7%, helping to
boost the S&P 500 healthcare index, as the drugmaker said it
would invest $5.1 billion in a major expansion of its
partnership with biotech Galapagos NV GLPG.AS . Boeing Co BA.N shares slipped 1.0% following a Wall Street
Journal report https://www.wsj.com/articles/boeing-737-max-grounding-could-stretch-into-2020-11563112801
on Sunday that its 737 MAX jet could stay grounded until early
2020.
Symantec Corp SYMC.O shares tumbled 10.7%, the biggest
percentage drop among S&P 500 companies, after a report that the
cybersecurity company and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O have ceased deal
talks. Broadcom shares rose 1.0%. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the New York
Stock Exchange by a 1.04-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1
ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 66 new 52-week highs and two new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 64 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 5.39 billion shares, compared
with the 6.69-billion-share average for the full session over
the last 20 trading days.