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US STOCKS-S&P 500 briefly rises above 1,900; Nasdaq pulls back
* Dow, S&P 500 hit intraday record highs
* Homebuilders rally; Keurig up on Coke's plan to raise stake
* Cisco falls 1 percent, weighs on the Nasdaq
* Dow up 0.2 pct; S&P 500 up 0.1 pct; Nasdaq off 0.1 pct (Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Frankfurt: HX6.F - news) , May 13 (Reuters) - The Dow and the S&P 500 edged up on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 briefly rising above 1,900 for the first time, while the Nasdaq pulled back after recent gains.
Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit record intraday highs and then retraced some ground, holding slim gains in afternoon trading. In contrast, the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks was down 0.8 percent.
"Technically new highs are usually a bullish event, but we're not seeing news to really inspire people, so we're holding in here at these new highs," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Homebuilders' shares gained and the common stock of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (Munich: FNM.MU - news) and Freddie Mac (Berlin: FHL.BE - news) jumped as Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt laid out new policies that could make it easier for many Americans to obtain mortgages. Fannie Mae jumped 9.4 percent to $4.64 while Freddie Mac advanced 8.6 percent to $4.56.
Shares of Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqGS: CSCO - news) , due to report results on Wednesday, were the biggest drag on the Nasdaq. The stock was down 1.3 percent at $22.90.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.25 points or 0.15 percent, to 16,720.72. The S&P 500 gained 1.68 points or 0.09 percent, to 1,898.33.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.79 points or 0.12 percent, to 4,139.069.
Earlier, the Dow rose to 16,735.51, an intraday record, and the S&P 500 advanced to 1,902.17, also a lifetime intraday high.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average was up 0.5 percent and hit another intraday record, which some analysts say points to upbeat prospects for the U.S. economy.
The dip in the Russell 2000 follows its biggest daily percentage gain since early March. At its session low on Friday, the index was down exactly 10 percent from the intraday record high set in early March.
O'Rourke said he expects more consolidation in the Russell 2000, given how long it had outperformed the S&P 500.
More developments on the deal front helped the outlook for stocks. Keurig Green Mountain Inc was the S&P 500's biggest percentage gainer, up 9.8 percent at $121.57. The stock climbed after Coca-Cola Co said it will raise its stake in the company, the maker of the popular Keurig one-cup coffee brewer, to 16 percent from 10 percent.
In other deal news, DirecTV (Frankfurt: DIG1.F - news) shares slipped 0.2 percent to $86.95 a day after sources told Reuters that AT&T Inc (NYSE: T - news) was in active talks to buy the company in a deal that could be worth close to $50 billion. AT&T's stock dropped 1.4 percent to $36.07.
Among homebuilders, the stock of D.R. Horton Inc rose 2.8 percent to $23.21. The PHLX housing sector index gained 0.6 percent.
Data did little to change the view that the U.S. economy is poised for faster growth this quarter. Retail sales rose 0.1 percent in April, less than expected, though the March reading was revised upward. (Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)
