* Indexes: Dow up 0.41%, S&P 500 down 0.03%, Nasdaq down

0.35%

* Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) surges on report of $9 bln Anthropic deal

* On drops after Q2 net sales miss

* Rocket Lab ( RKLB ) drops post-potential delay to Neutron debut

(Updates to market open)

By Avinash P and Purvi Agarwal

Aug 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped in choppy

trading on Tuesday, weighed down by heavyweight tech stocks, as

investors assessed a report suggesting the United States and

Iran were close to "some sort of an arrangement".

Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg News

that signals from recent days indicated a peace agreement was

close, right after Qatar's foreign ministry said Iran-Oman talks

on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz were in an advanced stage.

Brent crude futures turned lower after reaching

their highest level in over a week. Rising energy costs have

spurred inflation concerns and complicated the paths of central

banks globally.

"When you get some indication of something positive

happening - that this war is going to come to an end or some

kind of an agreement - you start to see oil back off. Any

positive news is better than negative news," said Robert Pavlik,

senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 221.79 points, or 0.41%, to 54,197.77, while the S&P 500

lost 2.27 points, or 0.03%, to 7,750.84 and the Nasdaq

Composite slipped 92.18 points, or 0.35%, to 26,513.18.

In the market, the S&P 500 industrials and

utilities were the biggest gainers, helping offset

declines in heavyweight tech and communication services stocks.

The S&P 500 information technology sector swung

between gains and losses as Nvidia ( NVDA ) was up 1.2%, while

Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL ) lost 0.8% and 1%,

respectively.

Consumer and producer price inflation readings, due over the

next two days, will be crucial in shaping market expectations on

the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy path, given its focus on the

inflation mandate and Chair Kevin Warsh's stance on cutting back

rates guidance.

Whether the central bank would increase interest rates in

September or choose to pause has split traders almost evenly,

according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

The S&P 500 and the Dow hovered near all-time

highs hit last week, while the Nasdaq is over 2% away

from its life-high but well above its lows in July, when the

tech-heavy index slid almost 10% from its peak.

Strong quarterly earnings in several sectors have boosted

U.S. stocks to new highs and signs of AI-related spending paying

off has eased some jitters.

Drug distributor Cardinal Health ( CAH ) gained 5% after it

forecast fiscal 2027 profit well above Street expectations.

Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) jumped 9.5%, following a media

report that the cloud-computing firm clinched a $9 billion deal

with Anthropic.

Rocket Lab ( RKLB ) slid 3.5% after appearing to push back

the timeline for the first flight of its Neutron rocket.

U.S.-listed shares of On dropped over 21% after the

sportswear brand missed sales estimates.

Hims & Hers Health ( HIMS ) shed 5.5% after the telehealth

company posted a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss.

LNG company Venture Global ( VG ) slipped about 5% after its

second-quarter revenue slightly missed estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.66-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500

posted 11 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq

Composite recorded 48 new highs and 36 new lows.

(Reporting by Avinash P and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing

by Joyjeet Das)