US STOCKS-Wall St slips, but logs best quarter in a year

                                
 
                                
* Indexes log best quarter in a year; S&P up 10.7 pct
                                
* Jobless claims fall, Q2 GDP growth reading revised up
                                
* Semiconductors' shares fall, but Boeing advances
                                
* Dow off 0.4 pct, S&P down 0.3 pct, Nasdaq off 0.3 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates with HP CEO news in 8th paragraph)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street wrapped up its
best quarter in a year on Thursday with the S&P and Nasdaq
logging in the biggest monthly gains since April 2009, as data
showed the economy isn't in such bad shape.
                                
 Defying September's track record as the worst month for
stocks, the S&P 500 was up 8.8 percent. In the third quarter,
the index gained 10.7 percent, which was the best in a year.
For factboxes on quarterly stocks performance, see
[ID:nN30211288] and [ID:nN30292915].
                                
 The session was volatile, split between investors
positioning for the end of the quarter and those buying on
encouraging data. After up and down moves of nearly 1 percent,
equities ended slightly lower.
                                
 Still, the S&P 500 seemed to be struggling to break above
the 1,145-1,150 trading range.
                                
 "Since September was such a strong month, many think
October will be the scary one. If (future) data and earnings
confirm that we are finally out of fears of a double-dip
(recession), October may be the month for the S&P to break
above trading range and reach the highs that we saw in April,"
said John Canally, an economist and investment strategist at
LPL Financial in Boston.
                                
 A poll by Reuters showed leading investors around the world
increased equity holdings to their highest level in three
months in September and reduced bonds and cash holdings as
confidence about the global economy grew. [ID:nLDE68T17W]
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 47.23
points, or 0.44 percent, to 10,788.05. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> declined 3.53 points, or 0.31 percent, to
1,141.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 7.94 points,
or 0.33 percent, to 2,368.62.
                                
 After the bell, Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> shares fell 3
percent to $40.65 after the company named Leo Apotheker as its
new chief executive, tapping a software industry veteran to
lead the world's largest technology company. [ID:nN30231665]
                                
 SOX SLIDES
                                
 Semiconductor companies, a growth sector that advanced
during the quarter, ranked among the day's losers and weighed
on the Nasdaq. The Philadelphia semiconductor index <.SOX> fell
0.7 percent.
                                
 In the options market, bearish activity was detected in
Micron Technology Inc <MU.O> about a week before its quarterly
results, and in Dell Inc <DELL.O>, as some investors appear to
be taking defensive positions.
                                
 "Option plays in both Dell and in Micron Tech today appear
to be investors protecting their recent gains in these
respective stocks," said Joe Kinahan, TD Ameritrade's chief
derivatives strategist.
                                
 "The common thread in both of these tech stocks is that
investors are nervous after a spectacular September for stocks
and are looking for ways to hedge their positions and still
enjoy further upside if we continue to rally."
                                
 BOEING'S GAIN CURBS DOW'S LOSS
                                
 The Dow's biggest advancer was Boeing Co<BA.N>, up 0.9
percent at $66.54 after the aircraft manufacturer said its
full-year results would not be hurt by its delaying the first
delivery of its 747-8 Freighter, its biggest commercial jet.
[ID:nN30156233]
                                
 American International Group Inc <AIG.N> rose 4.4 percent
to $39.10 after the insurer and the U.S. government unveiled a
plan for the company to repay its $182.3 billion taxpayer
bailout. [ID:nN30139597]
                                
 But Prudential Financial Inc <PRU.N> shares fell 4.2
percent to $54.18 after it agreed to buy two Japanese life
insurance units from AIG for $4.2 billion. [ID:nN30139597]
                                
 The market had opened higher after data showed initial
jobless claims fell sharply in the latest week, pointing to
modest strengthening in the labor market, while the Commerce
Department revised higher its final read on second-quarter
economic growth, as measured by gross domestic product. That
backed up stronger readings for regional business activity
indexes in New York City and the U.S. Midwest, seen as early
indicators before national surveys on Friday and later next
week. [ID:nN30285244]
                                
 Volume was light at 8.76 billion shares traded on the New
York Stock Exchange, the Amex and Nasdaq, compared with the
previous year's daily average of 9.65 billion shares. But it
was the highest daily volume since July 22 and relatively
stronger than it's been in the past couple of weeks.
                                
 Advancing stocks only slightly outnumbered declining ones
on the NYSE by 1,511 to 1,455.
                                
 On the Nasdaq, the balance was tilted slightly to the
downside, with 1,322 stocks declining and 1,292 advancing.
 (Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Jan
Paschal)