* Nasdaq rises on dollar strength, Amazon.com
* Oil halts recent decline, trades above $115
* Dollar strength seen enticing foreign investors
* UPS drops after playing down talk it is eyeing rival TNT
(Updates to midmorning)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite index
edged higher on Monday as the stronger dollar boosted the
allure of U.S. investments and Citigroup projected strong sales
for Amazon.com Inc's <AMZN.O> electronic book reader.
The dollar hit a six-month high against major currencies on
Monday, which boost the buying of U.S. assets by overseas
investors looking to capitalize on exchange differentials.
However, the Dow and the S&P 500 were little changed
because of geopolitical concerns centered on the fighting in
the Caucasus between Russia and its small neighbor, Georgia.
For details, see []
The threat to oil supply limited a further drop in oil
prices, and the stock market's recent surge led some investors
to book profits.
Investors worried that the fighting might disrupt the key
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline that carries Azeri crude
through Georgia to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
With Wall Street coming off its best week in more than
three months, some investors opted to lock in profits.
Shares of Boeing <BA.N> declined nearly 2 percent, giving
up some of the gains that boosted shares of big manufacturers
as oil prices slid last week. Shares of insurer American
International Group <AIG.N> , also among the recent winners,
fell more than 3 percent.
But shares of Web retailer Amazon.com rose more than 6
percent.
"There is so much unrest in the (Caucasus) region and if
there's disruption to the big pipeline that could have
consequences for Europe," said Marc Pado, U.S. market
strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in San Francisco. "If
there's a disruption, it will be bullish for oil."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> slipped 29.64
points, or 0.25 percent, to 11,704.68. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> inched up 0.05 points to 1,296.37. The Nasdaq
Composite Index <> added 7.97 points, or 0.33 percent, to
2,422.07.
Besides getting a boost from Amazon.com, Nasdaq was lifted
by Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, whose shares climbed 1.7 percent to
$172.44 after Chief Executive Steve Jobs told The Wall Street
Journal that iPhone users had downloaded more than 60 million
programs for the device in the month since Apple opened an
online software marketplace. []
Boeing shares fell to $67.02 on the New York Stock
Exchange, as shares of AIG declined to $24.20. Shares of major
technology companies also saw profit-taking. Chip maker
Qualcomm <QCOM.O> fell 0.7 percent at $55.48 on Nasdaq.
Even so, shares of Amazon.com Inc rose to $85.98 after
Citigroup said sales of the retailer's Kindle book reader
appeared much stronger-than-expected. []
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N>, the world's largest
retailer climbed 1.8 percent to $58.92 as investors bet that
the recent decline in oil prices lows will help consumer
spending.
Sysco Corp <SYY.N> rose 4.4 percent to $31.18 after the
food distributor reported stronger-than-expected quarterly
results.
U.S. front-month crude <CLc1> was up 35 cents at $115.50 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
