By Noel Randewich
(Reuters) - Wall Street rose by a smidgen on Friday as gains led by Intel, real estate companies and utilities offset Facebook after the social network disclosed a security breach.
Facebook slumped 2.7 percent after it said it discovered a security issue affecting about 50 million accounts. Its loss weighed more than any other stock on the S&P 500.
Earlier, Intel jumped 3.04 percent and was the biggest boost on the three major indexes after the chipmaker said it was optimistic it would meet its full-year revenue target.
Smaller rival AMD tumbled 4.94 percent. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index gained 0.72 percent, also boosted by Nvidia's 4.6 percent jump on bullish comments from Evercore ISI. The S&P 500 technology index rose 0.29 percent.
Italy's new government proposed a 2019 budget with a deficit three times bigger than the previous administration's target, sparking a sell-off in European stock markets and a drop in U.S. Treasury yields.
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"Italy is weighing on people's minds as to where they want to be," said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta. "The U.S. is the place to be, and the rest of the world - not so much."
The S&P 500 utilities and and real estate indexes, which typically benefit from lower interest rates, were the strongest performers among 11 indexes.
At 2:34 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.13 percent at 26,473.26 points, while the S&P 500 had gained 0.06 percent to 2,915.73.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.03 percent to 8,044.66.
Helping sentiment was Commerce Department data showing consumer spending rose steadily in August, while inflation stayed at the Federal Reserve's two-percent target.
"The theme of today is a continuation of solid economic numbers, as investors make comfortable positions ahead of the next quarter," said Kate Warne, principal and investment strategist at Edward Jones in Des Peres, Missouri.
Tesla sank 13.7 percent and was on track for its worst day since November 2013 after U.S. regulators sued Chief Executive Elon Musk, which could force him to step down and make it difficult for the loss-making electric-car maker to raise more capital.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.56-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.37-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and 68 new lows.
(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)