* S&P falls 4.7 pct or more in three of last four months
* Monsanto off after outlook, RIM falls on broker price cut
* Dow, S&P end flat, Nasdaq down 0.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to close, changes byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended little
changed in choppy trading on Tuesday, closing out an August
the bulls would like to forget.
Positive data surprises sustained a rally for most of the
session, but declines in technology shares capped overall
gains. The S&P 500 bounced off the key technical level of
1,040 for the third time in the last five sessions.
The S&P 500 fell 4.7 percent in August, the third time in
the last four months the benchmark has lost at least that
much, pressured by growing evidence the economic recovery is
sputtering. The month also witnessed the five lowest daily
trading volumes of the year.
U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected in August
and home prices ticked up in June, though a separate report
showed business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew in August a
bit less than economists expected. For details see
[].
"It seems like the market is whipping around on every bit
of data that comes out," said Eric Kuby, chief investment
officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.
"Each piece of news causes a reaction, then 15 minutes
later, people are looking for the next piece of news."
Broadcom Corp <BRCM.O> tumbled 6.4 percent to $29.96 and
the PHLX semiconductor index <.SOX> closed at its lowest level
in almost 10 months in the aftermath of Friday's revenue
warning from sector bellwether Intel Corp <INTC.O>.
"We see Intel as the first of many possible earnings that
could be short of expectations," said Steve Goldman, market
strategist at Weeden & Co in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Intel, down 1.6 percent at $17.67, said Friday its third-
quarter revenue could fall below its own estimates.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> edged up 4.99
points, or 0.05 percent, to 10,014.72. The Standard & Poor's
500 <.SPX> ticked up 0.41 point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,049.33.
The Nasdaq Composite <> slipped 5.94 points, or 0.28
percent, to close at 2,114.03.
For the month, the Dow fell 4.31 percent while the Nasdaq
tumbled 6.24 percent. The S&P 500 lost 4.75 percent, posting
its worst August since 2001 in terms of percentage declines.
Further weighing on the market on Tuesday, minutes of the
Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting suggested the outlook
for the U.S. economy would have to deteriorate "appreciably"
to spur fresh support from the central bank.
"Market participants have some hope that the Fed will
engage in (more quantitative easing) which had such a positive
impact in 2009," said Barry Knapp, managing director of equity
research at Barclays Capital in New York.
"That doesn't look likely in the near term."
Monsanto Co <MON.N> was the S&P 500's second-biggest
percentage decliner behind Broadcom, falling 5.8 percent to
$52.65 after it forecast full-year earnings below expectations
and said it would further reduce its work force.
[]
Research in Motion Ltd's <RIM.TO><RIMM.O> U.S.-listed
shares lost 6 percent to $42.84 after Sanford C. Bernstein cut
its price target on the stock, citing a threat to the
contribution to earnings from the BlackBerry maker's corporate
business. []
Saks Inc <SKS.N> surged 19.6 percent to $7.89 after a news
report suggested that a group of private equity firms might
soon bid for the New York-based luxury department store
operator. []
About 8.16 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last
year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion but still the
month's fourth-busiest day.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 5 to 4, while on the Nasdaq, advancers and
decliners were about even.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Additional reporting by Edward
Krudy; Editing by Jan paschal)
