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

0.37%

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US consumer sentiment slips again in September, survey

says

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Microsoft ( MSFT ) higher after deal to restructure OpenAI

(Updates with late morning trading)

By Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur

Sept 12 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Friday in

mixed trading, while Wall Street's main indexes remained on

track to log gains in a week of economic reports that solidified

expectations for interest rate cuts.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) gained 2.1% after the technology

giant

avoided a possible hefty EU antitrust fine

by offering customers reduced prices for Office products

excluding Teams.

It boosted the information technology sector

on the S&P 500, and helped lift the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Microsoft ( MSFT )

was among the only bright spots on the blue-chip Dow.

Declines in Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and paint-maker

Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ) bogged down the Dow.

On the S&P 500, eight out of the 11 sectors were trading

lower, with miners the biggest losers, down 1.1%.

Gains in tech stocks countered broader declines.

"It's a bit of a risk-off trade as we've had a big move

in the past couple of weeks here ... the tech space is holding

up well as markets are very enthusiastic around AI and capital

spending," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at

Nationwide.

"But the rest of the market just feels a little

exhausted at this point."

The University of Michigan's survey showed U.S. consumer

sentiment fell for a

second straight month

in September as consumers saw rising risks to business

conditions, the labor market and inflation.

At 12:09 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 187.60 points, or 0.41%, to 45,918.17, the S&P 500

lost 1.79 points, or 0.03%, to 6,585.68 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 80.83 points, or 0.37%, to 22,123.90.

Traders are fully pricing in a 25-basis point interest rate

cut and also see 5.5% expectations of a larger 50 bps trim at

the Fed's monetary policy meeting next week, after a series of

recent datasets pointed to a worsening U.S. jobs market.

A monthly inflation report on Thursday kept the U.S. central

bank on track to cut rates, with market pricing now reflecting

expectations for nearly three quarter-point cuts by the end of

the year.

All three major indexes are poised to record weekly

gains, largely helped by a revival in artificial intelligence

trade after cloud computing giant Oracle's upbeat

forecast on Tuesday.

It sparked a rally in AI-linked semiconductors and utilities

companies powering data centers earlier in the week, setting up

the S&P 500 information technology sector to outperform peers

this week.

The indexes are in positive territory for September so far -

a month that is deemed bad for U.S. equities historically, where

the benchmark S&P 500 has shed 1.5% on average since 2000, data

compiled by LSEG showed.

Among stocks, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) was 12.5%

higher, extending Wednesday's over 28% gains, as a source said

Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) was preparing a bid for the

Hollywood studio.

Shares of vaccine makers fell after a report said U.S.

health officials are planning to link coronavirus vaccines to

the deaths of 25 children.

Moderna ( MRNA ) fell 8.2%, while Pfizer ( PFE ) and

Novavax ( NVAX ) dropped 3% and 4.5% respectively.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.08-to-1

ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.99-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

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

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 23

new lows.