Wall St. flat; energy shares, Morgan Stanley results weigh

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended with slight gains on Monday as investors were cautious at the start of a heavy week of earnings, but advances in top tech names gave some support.

The Dow and S&P 500 pared losses late in the session while the Nasdaq added to gains. Nike , up 2.1 percent, helped the Dow.

The energy index <.SPNY> fell 1.9 percent as U.S. crude oil fell 2.9 percent. Copper fell after data showed a slowdown in China's economic growth.

Exxon fell 1.8 percent to $80.99 and Chevron fell 1.4 percent to $90.03, the biggest drags on the S&P 500 and the Dow.

 

"Energy and oil prices were down today, the industrials and materials sectors, so that took a little bit off the enthusiasm for equities," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

"After such a significant rally, we're back at a level where we anticipated we'd see a little pressure."

Morgan Stanley's shares fell 4.8 percent to $32.32. The bank's profit fell for the second straight quarter, capping mostly downbeat quarterly results from major U.S. banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 14.57 points, or 0.08 percent, to 17,230.54, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 0.55 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,033.66 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 18.78 points, or 0.38 percent, to 4,905.47.

Several Dow components are posting quarterly results this week, including Caterpillar , Boeing and Coca-Cola . S&P 500 earnings are expected to have declined about 4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

China's economic growth slowed to 6.9 percent between July and September, still ahead of the 6.8 percent forecast.

U.S. homebuilder sentiment improved in October, with the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index rising more than expected. An index of housing stocks <.HGX> was up 0.3 percent.

Weight Watchers more than doubled in value to $13.92 after it said Oprah Winfrey will buy a 10-percent stake in the company and join its board.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,655 to 1,421, for a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,382 issues rose and 1,381 fell for a 1.00-to-1 ratio favouring advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 22 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 53 new highs and 40 new lows.

(Editing by Don Sebastian and Nick Zieminski)