Wall St near flat; energy shares weigh while tech helps

Energy index falls 1.9% as US crude oil tumbles 2.9%

Advances in top tech and biotech names helped US stocks to end with slight gains on Monday, while caution at the start of a heavy week of earnings kept a lid on the market.

The Dow and S&P 500 pared losses late in the session while the Nasdaq added to gains. Nike , up 2.1%, helped the Dow, while gains in Apple and Intel supported all three major indexes.

Intel was up 1.7% at $33.59, while Apple was up 0.6% at $111.73. After the bell, shares of IBM dropped 4.9% to $141.94, while Rambus fell 10.2% to $12.48, each following results.

During the regular session, the Nasdaq Biotech Index was up 0.6%.

The energy index fell 1.9% as US crude oil fell 2.9%. Copper fell after data showed a slowdown in China's economic growth.

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

"Energy and oil prices were down today, and the industrials and materials sectors were among the laggards, 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% to $32.32. The bank's profit fell for the second straight quarter, capping mostly downbeat quarterly results from major US banks.

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

US stocks posted their third straight week of gains on Friday.

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% in the third quarter from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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

US homebuilder sentiment improved in October, with the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index rising more than expected. An index of housing shares was up 0.3%.

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.

About 6.0 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, compared with the 7.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.