(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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Apple ( AAPL ) falls after analyst flags weak demand for new

iPhones

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Intel ( INTC ) rises after report chipmaker qualifies for federal

grants

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Boeing ( BA ) dips after it freezes hiring, weighs temporary

furloughs

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Indexes: Dow up 0.16%, S&P 500 down 0.23%, Nasdaq down

0.83%

(Updated at 11:38 a.m. ET/1538 GMT)

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Sept 16 (Reuters) -

Technology stocks weighed on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 on

Monday as prudent investors awaited a pivotal monetary policy

decision from the Federal Reserve later in the week and most

traders priced in a steep reduction in borrowing costs.

Rate-sensitive chip stocks fell, with Nvidia ( NVDA ), which

led much of this year's rally, down 2%, Broadcom ( AVGO ) losing

3.4% and Qualcomm ( QCOM ) dropping 1.5%, sending the

Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index lower by 2%.

Other growth stocks also took a hit. Apple ( AAPL ) slid

3% after an analyst at TF International Securities said demand

for its latest iPhone 16 models was lower than expected.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) lost 1%, while Tesla fell

0.30%.

"Investors are lowering risk exposure ahead of the Fed

decision. The market is just being a bit more pragmatic and

letting go of technology," said Andre Bakhos, managing member at

Ingenium Analytics.

At 11:38 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 64.71 points, or 0.16%, to 41,458.49, the S&P 500

lost 13.14 points, or 0.23%, to 5,612.88 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 146.18 points, or 0.83%, to 17,537.79.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors edged higher. Financials

rose 0.90%, while rate-sensitive tech stocks

were the biggest laggards, shedding 1.2%.

Markets have rallied since the start of this year on

expectations the world's most influential central bank would

kick off its monetary policy easing cycle soon.

The Dow hit an intraday record high and the S&P

500 is less than 1% from its own milestone.

The benchmark index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq

had notched up their biggest weekly jumps in about 11 months on

Friday, although analysts attributed the optimism to signs of a

robust economy rather than rate-cut expectations.

Following a diverse batch of economic reports and comments

from a former policymaker in the last few weeks, traders swayed

in their bets on what decision the central bank would arrive at

during its Sept. 17 to 18 meeting.

Odds for a 50-basis-point cut are at 61% from 30% a week

ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, which showed a 39%

probability of a 25-basis-point reduction. There is concern that

an outsized move could mean the Fed sees the economy cooling at

a faster-than-anticipated pace.

"The key is the talk and rhetoric around the cut. How the

Fed is going to address the macro picture and what will

investors take away from that. You're going to get a market

that's relatively quiet until then," Bakhos said.

Intel Corp ( INTC ) climbed 3.4% after a report showed it

qualified for as much as $3.5 billion in federal grants to make

semiconductors for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Boeing ( BA ) dipped 1.3% after the planemaker said it was

freezing hiring and weighing temporary furloughs in the coming

weeks as its workers' strike stretched to its fourth day.

In economic data, reports on retail sales, weekly jobless

claims, housing starts and industrial production are due through

the week.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.64-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, and by a 1.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 79 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 111 new highs and 45 new

lows.