US stocks : Dow up 0.2 pct

Us stocks closing: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged lower on Monday as concerns about demand for Apple products sent shares of the tech heavyweight lower and investors braced for earnings disappointments.

But Dell Inc's stock jumped 12.8 percent to $12.28, offsetting some of the tech-sector weakness, after Bloomberg TV said the No. 3 personal computer maker is in talks with private equity firms to go private.

Apple lost 3.1 percent to $505.33 and was the biggest weight on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes after reports that the company has cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter due to weak demand. The stock earlier hit a session low of $498.51, the first dip below $500 since Feb. 16.

"It's clear from (Apple's) reducing their supply orders that the sales haven't met their expectations, though certainly the orders they put into place for the iPhone 5 displays were higher than those that were in place for the prior phone," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

"Certainly, the rate of growth that they had - the tremendous surge in their revenue, stock price, all things do eventually slow and come down, so it's not a big surprise."

Apple suppliers also lost ground, with Cirrus Logic off 8.7 percent to $28.82 and Qualcomm down 1.4 percent to $63.98. The S&P tech sector declined 1 percent as the worst performer of the 10 major S&P sectors.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 24.95 points, or 0.19 percent, at 13,513.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.81 points, or 0.06 percent, at 1,471.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.62 points, or 0.18 percent, at 3,120.02.

The Dow fared better than the other two indexes as Hewlett-Packard rose 6.3 percent to $17.18. The stock, which was up early in the session after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the stock and raised its price target to $21 from $15, added to gains after the Dell report.

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