S&P ends nearly flat, Nasdaq down 1 pct

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday as the tech sector dragged the Nasdaq to its biggest drop since July and kept the S&P 500 near the unchanged mark as investors cleared the decks for Alibaba's debut planned for later this week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 42.73 points, or 0.25 percent, to 17,030.24, the S&P 500 lost 1.5 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,984.04 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 48.70 points, or 1.07 percent, to 4,518.90.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Nick Zieminski)