US STOCKS-Wall St ends flat as mixed economic data fuels caution

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* Sept flash services jobs shrink for the first time in
9-1/2 yrs
* Services sector PMI 50.9 vs 50.7 for Aug
* Indices up: Dow up 0.1%, S&P down 0.1%, Nasdaq down 0.1%

(Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks barely budged on
Monday, with gains in shares of Apple offset by mixed economic
data that added to caution over the prolonged U.S.-China trade
war.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 0.5% after U.S. trade regulators
approved 10 of 15 requests for tariff exemptions by the iPhone
maker. Micron Technology Inc MU.O , which supplies
components to Apple, advanced about 0.9%.
U.S. employment in the services sector shrank for the first
time in nine-and-a-half years in September, IHS Markit's
Purchasing Manager's Index showed on Monday. At 50.9, the
services sector PMI was below expectations of 51.3.
The data also showed manufacturing activity rose in
September, topping expectations. Earlier in the day, a survey showed a manufacturing
recession deepening in Germany, Europe's biggest economy.
"What's been a question within the market is whether or not
we are headed toward a recession within the next 12 months. So
all of the data releases are increasingly important," said
Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial
in Newark, New Jersey.
"That's one thing that the market is concerned about right
now."
Investors also have been cautious about progress in
Sino-U.S. trade talks after a Chinese agriculture delegation
canceled a visit to Montana. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 14.92 points,
or 0.06%, to 26,949.99, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.29 points, or
0.01%, to 2,991.78 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 5.21
points, or 0.06%, to 8,112.46.
American Express AXP.N shares gained 1.2% after it
authorized the repurchase of up to 120 million shares and a
dividend increase.
Juniper Networks Inc JNPR.N rose 2% as Needham upgraded
the network gear maker's stock to "buy."
Boeing .BA.N edged lower after a Reuters report that
European antitrust regulators were set to investigate the
planemaker's $4.75 billion bid for the commercial aircraft arm
of Brazil-based Embraer SA EMBR3.SA . Additionally, the chief of the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration was to detail progress on the Boeing 737 MAX
aircraft inquiry to international air regulators. Social network Facebook Inc FB.O fell 1.6% and was among
the biggest drags on the S&P 500.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.22-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.21-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 42 new highs and 50 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 5.90 billion shares, compared
with the 7.1 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.