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Indexes: Dow up 0.20%, S&P 500 down 0.28%, Nasdaq off

0.47%

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UnitedHealth ( UNH ) surges after Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) investment

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Applied Materials ( AMAT ) drops on weak China demand forecast

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Investors monitor Trump-Putin summit at Alaska

(Updates with early afternoon prices)

By Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Aug 15 (Reuters) - The blue-chip Dow briefly hit a

record high on Friday, as UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) shares jumped after

Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) raised its stake in the health insurer, while

investors assessed mixed data to gauge the Federal Reserve's

monetary policy path this year.

A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian

counterpart Vladimir Putin was also on the radar, with markets

hoping it could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine

conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices. The meeting

will take place at 1900 GMT.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) gained 13.5% and was on track to

log its biggest daily rise since 2008 after Warren Buffett's

company revealed a new investment in the health

insurer, while Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management also

turned more bullish on the company.

Rising costs in the broader healthcare sector and an about

40% slump in heavyweight UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) shares this year have

left the Dow lagging its Wall Street peers on the road to

record highs. The price-weighted index last scaled an all-time

high on December 4.

The healthcare sector gained 1.3% on Friday and is

on track for its best weekly performance since October 2022.

More broadly, Wall Street's main stock indexes are on track

for their second week of gains, buoyed by expectations that the

Fed could restart its monetary policy easing cycle with a

25-basis-point interest rate cut in September.

The central bank last lowered borrowing costs in December

and said U.S. tariffs could add to price pressures. However,

recent labor market weakness and signs that tariff-induced

inflation was yet to reflect in headline consumer prices have

made investors confident of a potential dovish move next month.

"The question is has the tariff gotten into the price of

goods yet? And it appears that there hasn't," said Joe Saluzzi,

co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.

Saluzzi also said while markets have largely priced in a

September rate cut, investors might be overlooking risks, with

low volatility and rich valuations pointing to a sense of

complacency.

At 12:07 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 87.49 points, or 0.20%, to 44,998.75, the S&P 500

lost 18.18 points, or 0.28%, to 6,450.36 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 101.44 points, or 0.47%, to 21,609.23.

In a mixed day for economic data, a report showed retail

sales in July rose as expected, but consumer confidence and

factory production numbers indicated tariffs were taking a toll

on other pockets of the economy.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee was also cautionary in

his remarks.

Trump has said he will unveil tariffs on steel and

semiconductors next week.

Among other stocks on the move, Applied Materials ( AMAT )

tumbled 13.3% after the chip equipment maker issued weak

fourth-quarter forecasts.

Intel ( INTC ) rose 5.8% after a report said the Trump

administration was in talks for the U.S. government to

potentially take a stake in the chipmaker.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.26-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and no new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 66 new highs and 62 new lows.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy in

Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)