US STOCKS-Wall Street flat, but tech shares stronger

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are little changed in early trading on Monday, though the recent upward momentum remained intact and strength in technology shares lifted the Nasdaq.

Equities have risen for five straight weeks, and pronounced further upside may be limited given a dearth of domestic catalysts. Still, accommodative monetary policies from the Federal Reserve - including bond purchases and low interest rates - is expected to continue generating a positive environment for stocks, which haven't undergone a prolonged pullback in months.

"The trend is definitely still up as we continue to benefit from low rates, which has been driving money into the market for years," says Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville. "After a five-week rally, a drop of two points isn't anything to be concerned about."

Tech shares are the strongest of the day, with the S&P information technology sector up 0.4 percent, the top-performing sector on the day. Yahoo Inc (NasdaqGS: YHOO - news) is up 3 percent at $40.79, the S&P's biggest percentage gainer.

The Dow Jones industrial average is falling 6.64 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,130.72, the S&P 500 is down 0.93 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,006.78 and the Nasdaq Composite is adding 16.62 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,599.52.

The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange is Acorn International Inc (NYSE: ATV - news) , up 6.80 percent, while the largest percentage decliner is Callon Petroleum, down 7.46 percent.

At the NYSE, among the most active stocks are Bank of America, up 1.98 percent to $16.34; Petroleo Brasil , down 2.17 percent to $18.96 and Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F - news) , down 1.88 percent to $16.82.

On the Nasdaq, Yahoo; Microsoft Corp, up 1.7 percent to $46.71 and Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , down 0.1 percent to $98.91 are among the most actively traded.

Advancing issues are outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE by 1,424 to 1,310, for a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,519 issues are rising and 908 falling for a 1.67-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The broad S&P 500 index is posting 35 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 55 new highs and 13 new lows. (Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)