US STOCKS-S&P 500 flat as Apple overshadows positive trade deal cues

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* Medtronic up on improving demand for medical devices
* Best Buy warns of slowing sales growth, shares fall
* U.S. consumer confidence hits six-year low
* Indexes: Dow dips 0.43%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.21%

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By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Aug 25 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was little changed on Tuesday
following a three-day rally as a drop in Apple shares
overshadowed optimism from remarks made by U.S. and China
officials in pledging firm commitment to a Phase One trade deal.
The benchmark S&P 500 opened at a record high as the news
eased some concerns the deal could be on shaky ground. Investors
also anticipate the centerpiece event of the week - an annual
conference of U.S. central bankers where Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged new closing highs on Monday,
boosted by signs of progress in developing treatments and
vaccines for COVID-19.
The benchmark index surpassed its pre-pandemic high last
week even as recent economic indicators signaled a bumpy
recovery from the virus-led downturn.
A survey from the Conference Board showed U.S. consumer
confidence unexpectedly fell in August to a six-year low.
"The market is going to pause and digest the big moves we
saw over the last few months and weeks," said Adam Sarhan, chief
executive of 50 Park Investments in New York.
"For now, the market is acting extremely well. It refuses to
pullback. Even the down days are very shallow...speaks volumes
to how strong the market is."
Among stocks, Salesforce.com Inc CRM.N , Amgen Inc AMGN.O
and Honeywell International Inc HON.N climbed between 3.6% and
4.6% on news they would join the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial
Average index .DJIA on Aug. 31. Cloud computing heavyweight Salesforce.com is expected to
report second-quarter results after markets close.
The three companies will replace Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N ,
Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX.N , which
were down between 1.9% and 3%.
Apple Inc's AAPL.O 1.2% drop weighed heavily on the three
main indexes and the shares were on course to end five days of
gains.
At 11:08 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 122.19 points, or 0.43%, at 28,186.27, the S&P 500
.SPX was up 0.50 points, or 0.01%, at 3,431.78. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 24.31 points, or 0.21%, at 11,404.03.
Medtronic MDT.N rose 3.9% after the company said demand
for medical devices was improving as elective surgeries picked
up pace while it posted a plunge in first-quarter profit.
Medtronic and Amgen shares pushed the healthcare sector
.SPXHC 0.4% higher. Financials .SPSY , consumer discretionary
.SPLRCD , technology .SPLRCT and communication services
.SPLRCL were the other S&P sectors in positive territory.
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc BBY.N fell
5.3% after it warned sales growth may slow in the coming weeks.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.68-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 16 new lows.