US STOCKS-S&P edges lower as Apple weighs, trade tensions ease

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* China announces tariff exemptions, Trump open to interim
deal
* August retail sales rise 0.4% vs. forecast of 0.2%
* Treasury yields hit multi-week highs
* Dow & S&P 500 close within 1 percent below all-time highs
* Dow rises 0.14%, S&P 500 off 0.07%, Nasdaq down 0.22%

(Updates to market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended the day down
slightly on Friday but less than 1% below its all-time high as a
drop in Apple stock countered cooling U.S.-China trade tensions.
Tariff-vulnerable industrials helped keep the blue-chip Dow
in positive territory, which has now gained in eight straight
sessions, its longest winning streak since May 2018.
All three major U.S. stock indexes posted their third
straight weekly gains, capping a week that saw signs of a
potential thaw in the trade war between the world's two largest
economies, which has gripped markets for months.
Apple Inc AAPL.O was the biggest drag on the major stock
averages, falling 1.9% after Goldman Sachs cut its price target
for the iPhone maker's shares. Beijing announced it would exempt some U.S. agricultural
products from additional tariffs after President Donald Trump
suggested he could be open to an interim deal, the latest
conciliatory gestures by both sides of the trade war ahead of
next month's negotiations in Washington. ]
"Apple is holding back the averages," said Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New
York. "Another factor is we have a huge rally in (Treasury)
yields, the 10-year is up substantially. Those two factors are
holding back the market and dampening the enthusiasm that some
kind of cosmetic trade deal is on its way."
However, rising Treasury yields did boost interest-rate
sensitive financials .SPSY , which gained 0.8%.
On the economic front, U.S. retail sales increased in August
at twice the rate analysts expected, according to the Commerce
Department, suggesting that strong consumer spending will
continue to support the longest-ever U.S. economic expansion.
"The consumer is pretty cheerful," Cardillo added. "Going
into the holiday season the consumer is likely to continue to
spend, and that bodes well as far as the consumer-led economy is
concerned."
Ebbing trade jitters and upbeat retail sales data helped
U.S. Treasury yields reach multi-week highs, providing an
attractive alternative to risk-averse investors. Market participants now look to the U.S. Federal Reserve,
which is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis
points at the conclusion of its monetary policy meeting next
week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 37.07 points,
or 0.14%, to 27,219.52, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.18 points, or
0.07%, to 3,007.39 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
17.75 points, or 0.22%, to 8,176.71.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, five closed in the
red, with real estate .SPLRCR suffering the largest percentage
loss, 1.3%.
Materials .SPLRCM was the biggest percentage winner,
gaining 1.1%.
Chipmaker Broadcom Inc AVGO.O slipped 3.4% after the
company missed quarterly revenue estimates late Thursday and
said that while semiconductor demand has likely hit bottom, the
timing of a recovery remains uncertain. Progressive Corp PGR.N fell 5.6% after the insurer
reported a 36% year-on-year drop in August net income.
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc LL.N plunged 13.2% after
founder Thomas Sullivan told Bloomberg he was holding off on
plans to take the company private. Tyson Foods Inc TSN.N , the largest U.S. meat processor,
advanced 2.0% on China's tariff exemption announcement.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.21-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and one new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 20 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.93 billion shares, compared
with the 6.75 billion-share average over the last 20 trading
days.