US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq edge down, pulling back with tech

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* AT&T jumps after activist Elliott urges asset sales

* Technology top drag among S&P sectors

* Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.2%, Nasdaq off 0.5% (Updates to late afternoon)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down slightly in Monday afternoon trading, led by losses in technology shares, as the market pulled back following gains last week.

Microsoft Corp was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Technology stocks fell more than 1% and were the biggest drag on the benchmark index.

Amgen fell 2.85% after analysts raised questions about data on the company's lung cancer drug, dragging the healthcare sector down 0.84%.

Financial stocks rose 1.62%, with banks gaining 3.28% and U.S. Treasury yields gained on rising bets of an interest rate cut in the U.S. Federal Reserve's September meeting.

"The market is absorbing those gains from last week, and ... is in a wait and see regarding the European Central Bank meeting," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.

The European Central Bank is expected to introduce new stimulus measures at its meeting on Thursday.

Stocks rose last week on easing U.S.-China trade negotiations and global political tensions as well as increased hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut.

Cementing those expectations, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said late last week the central bank would "act as appropriate" to sustain economic expansion, a phrase that financial markets have read as a sign of an impending of rate cut.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19.37 points, or 0.07%, to 26,816.83, the S&P 500 lost 4.89 points, or 0.16%, to 2,973.82 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 43.17 points, or 0.53%, to 8,059.91.

Earlier on Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he did not see the threat of a recession as the Trump administration seeks to revive trade negotiations with China, adding he expected a positive year ahead for the U.S. economy.

Energy stocks gained along with oil prices.

Among other stocks, AT&T Inc gained 2.66% after shareholder Elliott Management Corp disclosed a $3.2 billion stake in the company and pushed for changes.

Boeing Co fell 1.02% after it suspended load testing of its new widebody 777X aircraft over the weekend as media reports said a cargo door failed in a ground stress test.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.37-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.42-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 53 new lows. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York Additional reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Matthew Lewis)