US STOCKS-Wall St ends flat, investors pause after 4-day rally

                                
  
                                
 * Indexes tread water after 4-day rally
                                
 * Financials and techs weigh
                                
 * Investors turn cautious after U.S. Treasuries jump
                                
 * Dow up 0.03 pct, S&P off 0.05 pct, Nasdaq off 0.14 pct
 (Updates close with Dow's intraday high, Fannie Mae's and
Freddie Mac's gains plus volume figures)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended the day
barely changed on Monday as investors took a break from a
four-day rally that lifted major indexes to 10-month highs.
                                
 Wall Street initially charged higher, but a sharp gain in
U.S. Treasury debt prices, which drove benchmark yields lower,
triggered a sell-off in stocks.
                                
 The broader market has been strengthening as U.S. and
global economic data have given more signs that a turnaround
is in the works.
                                
 "We have been recently seeing a disconnect between the two
markets. Stocks were up on economic optimism and bonds were up
on economic concerns," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist
at Miller Tabak & Co, in New York.
                                
 "Investors are finally catching up with this, and seeing
Treasuries as a sign that they should not be buying so much,"
Boockvar said.
                                
 U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on Monday, with the 30-year
bond gaining almost 2 full points, as investors did some
bargain hunting after Friday's sharp losses and the Federal
Reserve bought government debt. [ID:nN24452496]
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 3.32 points,
or 0.03 percent, to end at 9,509.28. But the Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> inched down just 0.56 of a point, or 0.05
percent, to 1,025.57 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC>
shed 2.92 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,017.98.
                                
 Earlier, the Dow rose as high as 9,587.73, while the S&P
500 climbed as high as 1,035.82, while the Nasdaq hit an
intraday high at 2,036.03.
                                
 Analysts have been warning that the market's upbeat mood
could be put to the test as a recent rally has pushed the S&P
up about 52 percent from its 12-year closing low on March 9.
                                
 JPMORGAN AND INTEL FALL
                                
 Financial stocks, which were among last week's biggest
advancers, lost their momentum partially after veteran bank
analyst Richard Bove said 150 to 200 more U.S. banks would
fail during the banking crisis. [ID:nN2372264]
                                
 SunTrust Banks Inc <STI.N> shares fell 3.8 percent to
$21.79 after the company said lenders face more credit losses
and commercial real estate may falter through 2010.
                                
 JPMorgan Chase <JPM.N> slipped 1.5 percent to $43.01 and
the Keefe, Bruyette &  Woods index of bank shares <.BKX>
dropped 1.6 percent.
                                
 The S&P financial index <.GSPF> fell 0.9 percent.
                                
 "Financials are coming off and the whole market is just
feeling a little bit tired ... the buyers stepped away a
little bit," said Todd Leone, head of listed trading at Cowen
& Co in New York.
                                
 Cisco Systems <CSCO.O> lost 0.6 percent to $22.06, and
shares of chip maker Intel Corp <INTC.O> fell 0.7 percent to
$18.76, dragging on the Nasdaq.
                                
 On the upside, drugmaker Warner Chilcott <WCRX.O> soared
27.1 percent to $20.41 after the company said it would buy
Procter & Gamble Co's <PG.N> pharmaceuticals business for $3.1
billion. [ID:nN24362644].
                                
 FANNIE AND FREDDIE SOAR
                                
 Shares of Fannie Mae <FNM.N>, the largest U.S. home
funding company, and Freddie Mac <FRE.N>, ended up sharply in
 heavy trading volume. Fannie Mae surged 41.7 percent to $1.70
and Freddie Mac jumped 18.5 percent to $2.05 on news the
companies were selling bills. [ID:nN24143150]
                                
 Energy stocks also advanced, in line with a rise in U.S.
front-month crude oil prices <CLc1>, which topped $74 a barrel
on Monday.
                                
 Valero Energy <VLO.N> was up 2.3 percent at $18.91 and
Murphy Oil <MUR.N> rose 2.3 percent to $60.66. Chevron Corp
<CVX.N>, a Dow component, gained 1.5 percent to $70.76.
                                
 Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1.23
billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated
daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 2.06
 billion shares traded, also below last year's daily average
of 2.28 billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks slightly outnumbered declining ones on
the NYSE by 1,543 to 1,474. On the Nasdaq, though, the
opposite trend prevailed: About five stocks fell for every
four that rose.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)