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U.S. business activity inches up in June

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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: Dow down 0.02%, S&P up 0.04%, Nasdaq up 0.26%

(Updated at 12:12 p.m. ET/1612 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Ankika Biswas

June 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were flat

to higher in choppy trading on Friday, with the Nasdaq reversing

earlier losses as megacap tech stocks regained ground, while

investors also assessed stronger-than-expected U.S. business

activity data.

Megacaps Microsoft Alphabet, Amazon.com ( AMZN )

and Apple ( AAPL ) rose between 0.7% and 2%, lifting

the tech-heavy Nasdaq and helping the S&P 500

pare early losses.

The S&P 500 Technology index reversed early

losses, rising 0.1%, while financial stocks were the

biggest decliner.

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.

U.S. business activity crept up to a 26-month high in June

amid a rebound in employment, but price pressures subsided

considerably, offering hope that a recent slowdown in inflation

was likely to be sustained.

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.

The market is also assessing a string of weakening economic

data, and commentary from U.S. Federal Reserve officials this

week that interest rates could remain higher for longer if there

is no consistent improvement in inflation numbers.

"It certainly looks like at this point the Fed is going to

hold tight for a while ... the market is slowly adjusting to

that reality," said Lamar Villere, portfolio manager with

Villere & Co.

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 0.5%, while

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

Micron Technology ( MU ) were down between 0.2% and 2%.

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.

Friday's session will mark the expiry of quarterly

derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures,

also known as "triple witching", adding to market volatility.

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

was down 9.57 points, or 0.02%, at 39,125.19, the S&P 500

was up 2.04 points, or 0.04%, at 5,475.21, and the Nasdaq

Composite was up 45.86 points, or 0.26%, at 17,767.44.

Spirit AeroSystems ( SPR ) rose 6.1% 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 35.2% 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 for a 1.36-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 15 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq recorded 18 new highs and 116 new lows.