US STOCKS-Wall St ends flat amid rate hopes, tech declines

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* AT&T rises after activist Elliott urges asset sales
* Technology, healthcare indexes fall
* Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.01%, Nasdaq off 0.2%

(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended flat on
Monday as increased expectations of stimulus from central banks
around the world were offset by losses in technology and
healthcare shares.
Investors also appeared to pull back from buying after the
market posted solid increases last week, strategists said.
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O was the day's biggest drag on the S&P
500 and Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 financial index .SPSY was among the day's
best-performing groups, rising 1.5%, with banks .SPXBK gaining
3.2% and U.S. Treasury yields up on rising bets of an interest
rate cut at the U.S. Federal Reserve's September meeting.
Cementing those expectations, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell
said late last week the central bank would "act as appropriate"
to sustain economic expansion, a phrase that financial markets
have read as a sign of an impending rate cut. "This is kind of the eye of the storm," as investors await
more news on interest rates or trade, said Paul Nolte, portfolio
manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
But, he said, "for the market to move significantly higher
from here, we'd really need to see something happen on trade."
Stocks rose last week largely on easing worries about
U.S.-China trade negotiations.
This week, the European Central Bank is expected to
introduce new stimulus measures at its meeting on Thursday.
"The market is absorbing those gains from last week, and ...
is in a wait-and-see regarding the European Central Bank
meeting," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at
Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 38.05 points, or
0.14%, to 26,835.51, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.28 point, or
0.01%, to 2,978.43 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
15.64 points, or 0.19%, to 8,087.44.
Earlier on Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
said he did not see the threat of a recession as the Trump
administration seeks to revive trade negotiations with China,
adding he expected a positive year ahead for the U.S. economy.
In healthcare, Amgen AMGN.O fell 2.6% after analysts
raised questions about data on the company's lung cancer drug,
while the S&P 500 healthcare index .SPXHC was down 0.9%.
The S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT ended down
0.7%.
Among gainers, energy stocks .SPNY rose along with oil
prices.
Among other stocks, AT&T Inc T.N gained 1.5% after
shareholder Elliott Management Corp disclosed a $3.2 billion
stake in the company and pushed for changes. Boeing Co BA.N fell 1.2% after it suspended load testing
of its new widebody 777X aircraft over the weekend as media
reports said a cargo door failed in a ground stress test.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.49-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.51-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and three new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 59 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.42 billion shares, compared
with the 6.77 billion-share average for the full session over
the last 20 trading days.