US STOCKS-Wall St mixed as S&P 500 on track for best August in 36 years

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* Tesla, Apple advance as stock split takes effect
* Aimmune Therapeutics soars on Nestle's $2 bln buyout offer
* Suitors for Tiktok U.S. slip as deal may need China nod
* Indexes: Dow drops 0.58%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.65%

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By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Aug 31 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 hovered near record highs on
Monday as bets on a rebound in economic activity due to
prolonged central bank support put the index on course for its
best August in more than three decades.
The Federal Reserve's commitment to tolerate inflation and
keep interest rates low, positive developments in vaccines and
treatments for COVID-19 and a momentum-driven rally in
tech-focused stocks have helped the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit
consecutive all-time highs.
The newly reshuffled Dow slipped, and was within 3.7% of its
record close on Feb. 12, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed
another 0.7% to a new peak.
New entrants to the blue-chip index, Salesforce.com Inc
CRM.N , Honeywell International Inc HON.N and Amgen Inc
AMGN.O , slipped between 0.3% and 1.2%.
Ousted companies Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N fell 1.2%, while
Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX.N saw
muted trading.
"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."
High-flying Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 4%, while Tesla Inc
TSLA.O jumped 9%, as their stocks became less costly after
their pre-announced stock splits took effect. Technology stocks .SPLRCT , consumer discretionary
.SPLRCD and healthcare .SPXHC outperformed among the major
S&P sectors.
The three main indexes are also set for their fifth straight
monthly rise following March lows, with the S&P 500 looking at
its biggest percentage rise in August since 1984, even as
economic data pointed to an uneven recovery from the steep
downturn.
China data showing a solid pace of expansion in the services
sector this month lifted spirits at the start of the week. Focus
will now be on the August U.S. jobs report slated for Friday.
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.
At 11:08 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 167.48 points, or 0.58%, at 28,486.39, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 0.13 points at 3,507.88. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 75.58 points, or 0.65%, at 11,771.21.
Among early movers, Aimmune Therapeutics Inc 's AIMT.O
shares more than doubled after Swiss food group Nestle SA
NESN.S offered to pay $2 billion for full ownership of the
peanut allergy treatment maker. Suitors for TikTok's U.S. assets, Microsoft Corp MSFT.O ,
Walmart Inc WMT.N and Oracle Corp ORCL.N , dropped between
1.0% and 3.1% as China's new rules around tech exports meant a
deal with ByteDance could need Beijing's approval. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.98-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.56-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 29 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 68 new highs and 13 new lows.