US STOCKS-Wall Street slightly lower as Citi results weigh on bank stocks

* Gains in healthcare stocks provide support
* Boeing drops on report MAX groundings could extend to 2020
* Paper packaging companies drop after KeyBanc downgrade
* Symantec tumbles on report Broadcom deal talks end
* Indexes down: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.15%, Nasdaq 0.07%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Uday Sampath Kumar
July 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three main indexes edged
lower in choppy trade on Monday, easing from record highs, as
declines in Boeing and bank stocks after Citigroup's quarterly
report were tempered by a rise in healthcare shares.
Citigroup Inc C.N reported a better-than-expected profit
kicking off earnings for major U.S. lenders, but reported a
decline in interest margins, with its shares marginally lower in
volatile trading. The compression in Citi's net interest margins will have
investors keeping a close eye on the metric for the other big
banks reporting this week, especially with a possible interest
rate cut on the horizon, Robert Pavlik, chief investment
strategist and senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC
in New York said.
JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N
and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N slipped ahead of their earnings
reports on Tuesday.
Banks .SPXBK dropped 1.02%, while the S&P 500 financial
index .SPSY fell 0.61%.
Keeping losses in check were healthcare stocks .SPXHC ,
which rose 0.22%, one of the five major S&P sectors in the
positive territory.
Healthcare was supported by gains in Gilead Sciences Inc
GILD.O , after the drugmaker said it would invest $5.1 billion
in a major expansion of its partnership with biotech Galapagos
NV GLPG.AS . Second-quarter earnings start in earnest this week and
analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a 0.3% fall in
profit, the first quarterly drop in three years, according to
Refinitiv IBES data.
At 12:52 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 32.75 points, or 0.12%, at 27,299.28, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 4.58 points, or 0.15%, at 3,009.19 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 5.97 points, or 0.07%, at 8,238.17.
The three main indexes ended last week at record closing
highs as dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome
Powell bolstered hopes that the central bank would deliver its
first interest rate cut in a decade later this month.
S&P and Dow heavyweight Boeing Co BA.N slipped 0.7% on a
report that the 737 Max jet may stay grounded until early 2020.
Symantec Corp SYMC.O tumbled 14.2% and was the top loser
on the benchmark index after a report that the cybersecurity
company and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O have ceased deal talks, with
the chipmaker up 1.2%. Paper packaging companies Westrock Co WRK.N , Packaging
Corp of America PKG.N and International Paper Co IP.N shed
between 1.7% and 3% after KeyBanc downgraded their shares,
citing risks from a further fall in containerboard and pulp
prices. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.20-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.27-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 61 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 68 new highs and 47 new lows.