Oil drags on Dow, S&P; Nasdaq boosted by Applied Materials

The Nasdaq was flat as Applied Materials led technology stocks higher. Energy stocks fell 0.84 percent as Brent crude oil dropped after hitting an eight-week high, with weak fundamentals countering a lift in sentiment over a possible output freeze. Investors were also cagey ahead of next week's meeting of central bankers from around the world in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is likely to cement expectations for a slow pace of rate increases.