US STOCKS-Latecomers jump on Wall St's September rally

* Stocks continue September rally after modest dip

* Apple slides at open, then cuts losses

* Dow up 0.4 pct, S&P up 0.5 pct, Nasdaq up 0.4 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to close)

By Angela Moon

NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as latecomers jumped onto the September bandwagon, buying up sectors that have outperformed during the month.

The S&P 500 has risen 9.4 percent so far in September, historically the worst month for stocks.

"When a month takes you by surprise like this, you tend to be underexposed to stocks and overexposed in cash and bonds. And as the quarter comes to an end, people are rushing to at least have ownership of the stocks that have performed well and have a good outlook. That's causing the aggressiveness in the market," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.

Sectors associated with improving economic growth have outperformed during this rally, and those stocks once again led Tuesday's advance. The Philadelphia semiconductor index <.SOX> rose 1.7 percent for the day and was up 13.8 percent for the month. The small-cap Russell 2000 <.RUT> gained 1.1 percent. Among the S&P 500's sectors, the consumer discretionary index <.GSPD> was up 0.8 percent.

Boosting energy and commodity shares, spot gold prices surged to a fresh record at $1,310.10 an ounce.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 46.10 points, or 0.43 percent, to end at 10,858.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 5.54 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,147.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> advanced 9.82 points, or 0.41 percent, to 2,379.59.

With only two days left in September, the Dow is up 8.4 percent for the month.

Walgreen Co , the biggest U.S. drugstore chain, reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by strong prescription drug sales. Its shares jumped 11.4 percent to $33.81. [ID:nN28124290]

Continuing the spurt of recent M&A activity, Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc will buy private generics maker Qualitest Pharmaceuticals for about $1.2 billion, marking its second deal in as many months. Endo shares advanced 8.1 percent to $33.10.

Shares of Apple Inc slid as much as 5.6 percent on rumors its No. 2 executive was departing for Hewlett-Packard Co , but the stock recovered as analysts dismissed the speculation. [ID:nN28185533].

Representatives from Apple and Hewlett-Packard declined to comment.

Apple shares shed 1.5 percent to $286.86.

HP shares closed up 0.9 percent at $41.63 amid speculation that the IT giant may announce a replacement for its former CEO at a financial analysts' meeting currently being held in Palo Alto, California.

With the Nasdaq up 12.6 percent for the month, some analysts noted that the technology sector may be overbought on a short-term basis.

The sector broke out of its summer trading range last week, and was back above its 150-day moving average, outperforming both the wider market and defensive areas, Concept Capital said in a research note.

Wall Street had opened lower after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell in September to its lowest level since February, but investors quickly brushed off the bad news. [ID:nN28177460]

"Consumer confidence numbers are a reflection of news that we already know. It's now all about how companies will be performing next quarter," Pado said. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jan Paschal)