US STOCKS-Apple, Broadcom hold back Wall Street gains

* S&P, Dow opens higher for third straight session
* Trump says potentially open to interim trade deal with
China
* August retail sales rise 0.4% vs forecast of 0.2%
* Apple, Broadcom drag on Nasdaq
* Dow up 0.11%, S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq off 0.24%

(Updates to open, adds comments)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Losses for U.S. technology majors Apple
and Broadcom overturned early gains on Wall Street on Friday, as
traders balanced the latest indicators on an uncertain global
growth outlook with perceived progress in reducing Sino-U.S.
trade tensions.
Broadcom Inc AVGO.O , among the world's biggest chipmakers,
weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq after it said in results late
on Thursday that demand for microchips had bottomed out and that
a recovery was not yet on the cards. That pointed to more headwinds for tech companies buffetted
this year by the trade conflict and added to a handful of
negative signals for Apple, including a Goldman Sachs cut in its
price target for the stock, citing concerns over its new Apple
TV+ service.
After an otherwise upbeat start for Wall Street, the two
companies together were the main driver in bringing the S&P 500
back to earth.
Having risen to within 0.4% of its record high in early
trading, the benchmark index .SPX was up just 0.2% by 11 a.m.
et., with financial stocks .SPSY up 0.44%.
"The monitor would be painted with green if not for Apple,
Broadcom and Amazon," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Banks .SPXBK followed U.S. Treasury yields higher after
data showed U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in August, lifted by
spending on cars, building materials, healthcare and hobbies.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an increase of 0.2%. "(The data) demonstrates that consumers are still opening
their wallets as low unemployment and high consumer confidence
coupled with better wages is driving increased consumer
spending," said Moody's Vice President Mickey Chadha.
If early gains hold, markets are set for their third
straight week of gains, having already recouped losses from
August when escalating trade tensions and the inversion of a key
part of the U.S. yield curve drove investors toward assets
perceived to be safe-havens in the event of a downturn.
The doubts about growth remain but have been soothed this
week by a combination of signals of central bank support for the
economy and U.S. President Donald Trump's latest comments that
he was potentially open to an interim trade deal with China.
On Friday, China's official Xinhua News Agency said the
country would exempt some U.S. pork and soybeans from additional
tariffs on U.S. goods. Tyson Foods Inc TSN.N , the United States' largest meat
processor, rose 3.4%.
"If you are hoping for a trade deal, the comments that
President Trump made are probably the best you could expect
right now," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and
senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
However, Pavlik added that a trade deal - interim or
otherwise - was not likely to be signed before the 2020
presidential election.
The trade conflict has taken a toll on U.S. manufacturing
and tempered global growth, with the International Monetary Fund
forecasting that the tit-for-tat tariffs between the United
States and China could reduce global GDP in 2020 by 0.8%.
Investors are now expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut
rates at its policy meeting next week. The European Central Bank
announced a sweeping stimulus drive on Thursday to prop up the
euro zone economy.
At 10:12 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 28.62 points, or 0.11%, at 27,211.07, the S&P 500 .SPX was
down 0.39 points, or 0.01%, at 3,009.18 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was down 19.78 points, or 0.24%, at 8,174.69.