*

U.S. business activity inches up in June

*

Spirit Aero up following report of Boeing ( BA ) nearing buyout

deal

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Sarepta surges on expanded use of gene therapy

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Indexes mixed: Dow up 0.07%, S&P down 0.13%, Nasdaq down

0.16%

(As of 02:16 pm EDT)

By Echo Wang

June 21 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dipped

slightly on Friday as shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell for a second

consecutive day, pulling the tech sector lower.

Megacaps Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com ( AMZN )

and Apple ( AAPL ) rose between 0.07% and 2.08%.

Communication services was the biggest gainers

among the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, up 0.72%, while technology

led the decline.

"We've had a very strong run, especially in the S&P over

the last couple weeks. So not surprised to see things kind of

take a pause and settle down," Zachary Hill, head of portfolio

management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

All the three major Wall Street indexes were on track to

post weekly gains, with the S&P 500 briefly crossing the

5,500-point milestone during Thursday's session.

Friday's trading could be more volatile than usual due to

triple witching, the simultaneous expiration of stock options,

stock index options, and stock index futures.

U.S. business activity reached a 26-month high in June amid

a rebound in employment, while easing price pressures suggested

the recent inflation slowdown may continue.

Flash services PMI increased to 55.1 this month, above

expectations of 53.7, while manufacturing PMI edged up to 51.7,

compared with expectations of a dip to 51.

May home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of

4.11 million units versus expectations of 4.10 million units.

Money markets are still pricing in a 58% chance of a

25-basis point rate cut in September, and still expect about two

rate cuts this year, according to LSEG's FedWatch data.

AI chip firm Nvidia ( NVDA ) slipped 3.18%, while

semiconductor stocks Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Broadcom ( AVGO ) and

Micron Technology ( MU ) were down between 1.35% and 3.50%.

Wall Street's bumper gains since the final leg of 2023 have

been primarily driven by the likes of Nvidia ( NVDA ) and a handful of

other heavily weighted stocks linked to artificial intelligence.

Analysts, however, have raised concerns whether the strong

increase in their valuations is sustainable.

At 02:16 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

28.11 points, or 0.07%, to 39,162.87, the S&P 500 lost

7.35 points, or 0.13%, to 5,465.82 and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 27.49 points, or 0.16%, to 17,693.22.

Spirit AeroSystems ( SPR ) rose 5.46% following a Reuters

report that Boeing ( BA ) is nearing a deal to buy back the

airplane parts supplier after months of talks.

Sarepta Therapeutics ( SRPT ) soared 32.08% after the U.S.

FDA allowed expanded use of the company's gene therapy for

patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy aged four and older.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.34-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 71 new highs and 56 new lows on the

NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and one new low

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 141 new

lows.