* Boeing drops on report MAX groundings could extend to 2020
* Paper packaging cos drop after KeyBanc downgrade
* Symantec tumbles on report Broadcom deal talks end
* Dow off 0.04%, S&P dips 0.05%, Nasdaq up 0.04%
(Changes comment, adds details, updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Uday Sampath Kumar
July 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three main indexes flitted
between slight gains and losses on Monday, as declines in Boeing
and bank stocks after Citigroup's quarterly report were
countered by a rise in technology shares.
The third-largest U.S. lender beat profit estimates but
reported a decline in interest margins, with its shares
marginally lower in volatile trading. The sequential squeeze on Citi's net interest margins by 5
basis points is a cause for worry for investors in other large
banks, said Marty Mosby, director of bank and equity strategies
at Vining Sparks in Memphis, Tennessee. It raises concerns over
expected declines in short-term interest rates when the Federal
Reserve begins to cut rates, he added.
JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N
and Wells Fargo WFC.N slipped ahead of their earnings reports
on Tuesday.
The bank stocks .SPXBK fell 0.67%, while the S&P 500
financial index .SPSY declined 0.41%.
Keeping losses in check were technology stocks, with Apple
Inc AAPL.O and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O advancing. The S&P
technology index .SPLRCT rose 0.2%, one of the four major S&P
sectors trading higher.
Second-quarter earnings season start in earnest this week and
analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a 0.3%
year-over-year fall in profit, the first quarterly drop in three
years, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
At 11:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 10.26 points, or 0.04%, at 27,321.77, and the S&P 500
.SPX was down 1.44 points, or 0.05%, at 3,012.33. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 3.43 points, or 0.04%, at 8,247.58.
Wall Street notched up record highs last week on heightened
expectations of an interest rate cut later this month following
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's dovish comments.
Weighing heavily on the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials were
shares of Boeing Co BA.N , which fell 1.1% on a report that the
737 Max jet may stay grounded until early 2020. Symantec Corp SYMC.O tumbled 13.2% and was the top loser
on the benchmark index after a report that the cybersecurity
company and chipmaker Broadcom have ceased deal talks. Broadcom
rose 1.6%. General Electric Co GE.N fell 1.1% after brokerage UBS
downgraded shares of the industrial conglomerate to "neutral"
from "buy".
Paper packaging companies Westrock Co WRK.N , Packaging
Corp of America PKG.N and International Paper Co IP.N shed
between 1.6% and 3.5% after KeyBanc downgraded their shares,
citing risks from a further fall in containerboard and pulp
prices. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.12-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.29-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 60 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 60 new highs and 39 new lows.