US STOCKS-Wall St cuts losses after upbeat manufacturing data

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Sept. flash manufacturing PMI 51 vs. 50.3 for Aug.
* Apple gains on tariff exemptions
* Wall Street posted worst session in 2 weeks on Friday
* Indexes down: Dow 0.17%, S&P 0.09%, Nasdaq 0.12%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and Ambar Warrick
Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks pared early losses on Monday
after a better-than-expected manufacturing survey reinforced
confidence in the domestic economy.
IHS Markit's Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for U.S.
manufacturing activity rose to a reading of 51 in September from
50.3 in August, topping expectations of economists polled by
Reuters. Services PMI came in slightly weaker than expected at
50.9.
The report follows dour business surveys from across the
euro zone, which suggested growth had ground to a halt in the
bloc. Other economic reports on investor radar in the final week
of the third quarter include core personal consumption data -
the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - and final reading of
second-quarter GDP data.
Investors have been cautious about progress in Sino-U.S.
trade talks after a Chinese agriculture delegation canceled a
visit to Montana that pulled the Wall Street's main indexes to
their worst session in about two weeks on Friday and ended a
three-week run of gains. Still, U.S. and Chinese officials described the deputy-level
trade talks last week, meant to lay the groundwork for
high-level negotiations in October, as being "constructive" and
"productive". "While chances of a complete deal are pretty remote, people
are pinning their hopes on any deal where they just stop the
escalation (of the trade war)," said Scott Brown, chief
economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Investors will also be watching for a speech by Federal
Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams at the 2019
U.S. Treasury Market Conference.
At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 44.69 points, or 0.17%, at 26,890.38, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 2.66 points, or 0.09%, at 2,989.41. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 9.67 points, or 0.12%, at 8,108.01.
The so called defensive sectors - consumer staples
.SPLRCS , utilities .SPLRCU and real estate .SPLRCR -
posted were the biggest gainers among the four of the 11 major
S&P sectors that were higher.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 0.3% after U.S. trade regulators
approved 10 out of 15 requests for tariff exemptions by the
iPhone maker.
Boeing .BA.N dropped 0.9% after a Reuters report that
European antitrust regulators were set to investigate the plane
maker's $4.75 billion bid for the commercial aircraft arm of
Brazil-based Embraer SA EMBR3.SA . Additionally, the chief of the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration is set to detail progress on the Boeing 737 MAX
aircraft to international air regulators, who are divided about
returning the grounded jet to flight after two fatal crashes.
Juniper Networks Inc JNPR.N rose 1% as Needham upgraded
the network gear maker's stock to "buy".
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.06-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.53-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 6 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 23 new lows.