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

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

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Indexes: Dow down 0.17%, S&P 500 down 0.02%, Nasdaq up

0.20%

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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 after consumer sentiment data)

By Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur

Sept 12 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's major indexes were subdued in choppy trading

on Friday, easing from the previous session's record highs, but

they remained on track to log gains in a week of economic

reports that solidified expectations for interest rate cuts.

The Nasdaq briefly hit an intraday record high on

Friday.

On Thursday, markets were boosted by a rally in shares of

Tesla and Micron Technology ( MU ), while a monthly

inflation report kept the U.S. central bank on track to cut

rates next week.

Traders were already pricing in a 25-basis point easing in

monetary policy after a series of recent indicators had shown

that the labor market was worse than previously thought.

The bleak August nonfarm payrolls, however, brought up bets

on a bigger 50-bps cut, that currently stand at 7.5%, CME's

FedWatch tool showed.

After the inflation data, market pricing now reflects

expectations for three quarter-point cuts - one at each

remaining Fed meeting this year.

"We're likely going to see 75 basis points one way or

the other this year and likely another 50-75 basis points over

the next 12 months ... that's more important than necessarily

the cadence of how we receive that," Art Hogan, chief market

strategist at B Riley Wealth.

A preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's

consumer sentiment index for September came in at 55.4, compared

with estimates of 58, according to economists polled by Reuters.

At 10:06 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 77.06 points, or 0.17%, to 46,030.94, the S&P 500

gained 1.10 points, or 0.02%, to 6,588.57 and the Nasdaq

Composite rose 44.57 points, or 0.20%, to 22,087.64.

Declines in communication services stocks,

including Alphabet and Meta Platforms offset

gains in heavyweight tech stocks on the S&P 500.

Energy stocks on the benchmark index were higher,

tracking a near 2% surge in oil prices.

Meanwhile, losses in industrials and consumer

discretionary stocks weighed on the Dow.

Nevertheless, 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 8.9% higher,

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

Skydance ( PSKY ) was preparing a bid for the Hollywood studio.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) rose 1.2% after it reached a non-binding

deal with OpenAI to allow it to restructure itself into a

for-profit company.

Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) gained 3.7% after the AI

server maker began volume shipments of Nvidia's ( NVDA )

blackwell ultra systems.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.02-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.77-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and two new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 11

new lows.