Wall Street flat but Apple rallies on court ruling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were flat on Monday as investors took a wait-and-see approach ahead of a conference of central bankers later this week, though APPLE (AAPL.NQ)surged to a new high following a court victory.

Investors are looking ahead to the meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday for clarity on what the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will do to support an economy showing signs of slowing growth.

Equities have rallied on growing expectations for a third round of quantitative easing from the Fed, and the news from Jackson Hole could determine whether the recent rally that took the S&P index to four-year highs will persist. Still, questions remain about the timing and size of any possible action.

"There's not much going on as we look ahead to Jackson Hole, and we might make some new lows in terms of trading volume going into that as investors wait," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management LLC in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which oversees $3.8 billion.

Daily trading volume is expected to be extremely light ahead of the meeting, and as many market participants are out on vacation ahead of the Labor Day holiday on September 3. Last week, volume was among the lowest of the year.

Apple Inc gained 2.1 percent to $677.17 after the company won a sweeping victory in a patent lawsuit against Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>. Samsung said it would contest the verdict, which orders it to pay $1.05 billion in damages. Earlier, the company hit an all-time high of $680.87.

U.S.-listed shares of Nokia Corp , a Samsung competitor, surged 8.4 percent to $3.34.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 23.07 points, or 0.18 percent, at 13,134.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.06 points, or 0.00 percent, at 1,411.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 3.33 points, or 0.11 percent, at 3,073.12.

In merger news, car rental firm Hertz Global Holdings said it would buy smaller rival Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for about $2.3 billion while M&T Bank Corp is buying Hudson City Bancorp Inc for $3.7 billion.

Shares of Hertz climbed 10 percent to $14.50 while Dollar Thrifty gained 7.4 percent to $86.96. M&T gained 5.1 percent to $90.23 and Hudson climbed 16.5 percent to $7.50.

IBM Corp agreed to buy Kenexa Corp for $1.3 billion, sending Kenexa shares up 41 percent to $45.75. IBM, a Dow component, was off 0.4 percent.

"The merger and acquisition theme will only pick up steam as we go through the quarter, which should especially be a catalyst for small and mid-cap stocks," said Veru, whose firm owns shares in Kenexa.

Tiffany & Co climbed 6 percent to $62.02 after cutting it full-year profit and sales outlook, though by less than had been feared.

(Editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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