US STOCKS-Dow ends higher after UnitedHealth gains, other indexes slip on rate cut uncertainty

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The blue-chip Dow Jones ended higher after hitting an intraday record high on Friday, as UnitedHealth's shares jumped after Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake, but other Wall Street indexes slipped as mixed data clouded the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move.

A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was also on the radar, with markets hoping it could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices. The two leaders began a meeting in Alaska on Friday afternoon.

UnitedHealth Group UNH.N rose almost 12%, its biggest single-day percentage rise since March 2020, after Warren Buffett's company BRKa.N revealed a new investment in the health insurer, while Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management also turned more bullish on the company.

Rising costs in the broader healthcare sector and about a 40% slump in UnitedHealth's shares this year have left the Dow .DJI lagging its Wall Street peers on the road to record highs. The price-weighted index last scaled an all-time high on December 4.

The healthcare sector .SPXHC gained 1.65% on Friday, tracking its best weekly performance since October 2022.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 34.86 points, or 0.08%, to 44,946.12, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 18.74 points, or 0.29%, to 6,449.80 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 87.69 points, or 0.40%, to 21,622.98.

More broadly, Wall Street's main stock indexes recorded their second week of gains, buoyed by expectations that the Fed could restart its monetary policy easing cycle with a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in September.

The central bank last lowered borrowing costs in December and said U.S. tariffs could add to price pressures. However, recent labor market weakness and signs that tariff-induced inflation was yet to reflect in headline consumer prices have made investors confident of a potential dovish move next month.

"The question is, has the tariff gotten into the price of goods yet? And it appears that there hasn't," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.

Saluzzi also said while markets have largely priced in a September rate cut, investors might be overlooking risks, with low volatility and rich valuations pointing to a sense of complacency.

In a mixed day for economic data, a report showed retail sales in July rose as expected, but consumer confidence and factory production numbers indicated tariffs were taking a toll on other pockets of the economy.

"Today is a normal pullback given the recent strong gains," said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management.

"We will have to wait for the personal consumption expenditures data which the Fed prefers and has been running a bit hotter than CPI of late to see how much inflation is finding its way into the system."

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee was also cautionary in his remarks.

Trump has said he will unveil tariffs on steel and semiconductors next week.

Among other stocks that were on the move, Applied Materials AMAT.O tumbled 14% after the chip equipment maker issued weak fourth-quarter forecasts.

Shares of Bank of America BAC.N dropped 1.6% after Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in the second-biggest U.S. lender by 4.2% to 605.3 million shares. It still owns about an 8% stake in BofA.

Intel INTC.O rose 2.9% after a report said the Trump administration was in talks for the U.S. government to potentially take a stake in the chipmaker.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 244 new highs and 45 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.36-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 79 new highs and 81 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 16.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 18.2 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.94%, the Nasdaq rose 0.81%, and the Dow climbed 1.74%. The Russell 2000 Small Cap Index .RUT rose 3.13%.