US STOCKS-Energy, healthcare shares keep a lid on Wall Street, Iran concerns linger

* Micron gains on bullish brokerage comment
* Microchip provides upbeat sales outlook
* Energy stocks slide as oil drops 1%
* Indexes: Dow down 0.08%, S&P off 0.06%, Nasdaq up 0.19%

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By Sruthi Shankar and Susan Mathew
Jan 7 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial
Average slipped on Tuesday, led by losses in oil and healthcare
stocks, with investors nervously awaiting the latest in the
U.S.-Iran standoff.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq remained buoyant as chipmakers resumed
their strong rally from 2019.
Micron Technology Inc MU.O jumped 6.7% after brokerage
Cowen & Co upgraded the chipmaker to "outperform", citing
earlier-than-expected recovery in the memory market. Microchip
Technology Inc MCHP.O rose 5.3% after raising the mid-point of
its third-quarter sales forecast.
Energy stocks .SPNY were down 1% as oil prices surrendered
gains made over the last few days, and healthcare stocks
.SPXHC fell 0.3% as shares in Merck & Co Inc MRK.N were hit
by mixed results in its late-stage trial of a cancer drug.
Equity markets have been trying to shake off concerns from
escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran after the
killing of a top Iranian military commander last week by the
United States. "The reason why we are modestly negative here is the tension
in the Middle East and the noise coming out around it," said
Phil Blancato, chief executive officer of Ladenburg Thalmann
Asset Management in New York.
"I think the market is being very patient here, just waiting
for news from one side or the other."
Latest data showed new orders for U.S.-made goods fell in
November, pulled down by steep declines in demand for machinery
and transportation equipment, pointing to sustained weakness in
manufacturing. However, another reading on the non-manufacturing sector
activity for November came in better than expected. At 11:25 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 23.62 points, or 0.08%, at 28,679.76, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 1.99 points, or 0.06%, at 3,244.29 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 16.94 points, or 0.19%, at 9,088.40.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N rose 1.3% after the Wall
Street bank said it had overhauled its main business units ahead
of its quarterly results next week. Shares in Apache Corp APA.N soared 25% after it and
France's Total SA TOTF.PA said they made a major oil discovery
off the coast of Suriname at the closely watched Maka-Central 1
well. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.25-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 32 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 71 new highs and seven new lows.