S&P and Dow flat on lackluster data, Apple boosts Nasdaq

Investors got a blast of economic data, including a bigger-than-expected drop in retail sales and industrial output for August, which pointed at some weakness in the U.S. economy. It's just right to keep the Fed on the sidelines and keep interest rates right where they are," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. Investors have been fretting over the possibility of a rate hike when the data-dependent Federal Reserve holds its policy-setting meeting next week