US STOCKS-Alphabet shares power S&P 500, Nasdaq; Amazon dips

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* Alphabet set for best day in nine months
* Spotify drops as outlook disappoints
* Amgen slips as earnings forecast falls short of estimates
* Indexes: Dow down 0.08%, S&P up 0.35%, Nasdaq up 0.72%

(Updates to market open)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Feb 3 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed on
Wednesday, lifted by heavyweight Alphabet Inc's shares after its
strong results, while investors counted on more fiscal stimulus
to ride out the economic downturn.
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O jumped 7% as it benefited from
lockdowns that drove retail and other advertisers online.
The Google owner's shares pushed the communication services
index .SPLRCL 2.2% higher to an all-time high. Six of the 11
major S&P sectors were in the positive territory.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O dipped 0.1% as Jeff Bezos' surprise
move to step down as chief executive quashed optimism about
bumper quarterly results. However, analysts were upbeat on the
promotion of its cloud computing head to the top job.
About 83% of reports from S&P 500 companies so far have
surpassed analysts' earnings expectations, with 97% of results
from technology companies beating, according to IBES data from
Refinitiv.
Wall Street's main indexes finished sharply higher for a
second straight day on Tuesday in a broad-based rally as market
participants digested talks over the next round of stimulus.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday will meet
congressional Democrats preparing to advance his $1.9 trillion
COVID-19 relief plan despite Republican pushback. "Economic recovery is on the way and the market is still
very focused on technology ... the focus will shift at some
point in next couple of months to more value, recovery names and
that's where the opportunity is," said Olivier Sarfati, head of
equities at GenTrust in New York.
At 10:03 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 13.23 points, or
0.35 %, to 3,839.54 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 98.05
points, or 0.72 %, to 13,710.83.
The price-weighted Dow Jones .DJI fell 0.08%, weighed down
by a 2.4% fall in shares of Amgen Inc AMGN.O after the U.S.
biotech forecast 2021 earnings below estimates and said it had
paused or halted enrollment for clinical trials of three cancer
drugs. Videogame retailer GameStop Corp GME.N rose about 3%,
clawing back some gains after nearly halving in value on Tuesday
on the back of a social media-driven trading rollercoaster ride.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is calling a meeting of
top officials, including from the Securities and Exchange
Commission and the Federal Reserve, this week to discuss market
volatility.
On the economic front, the ADP Report showed hiring by U.S.
private employers rebounded by 174,000 in January after a drop
in December. A more comprehensive jobs report is expected on
Friday. A separate ISM survey showed U.S. services industry activity
raced to its highest level in nearly two years in January.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.4-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.7-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted five new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 158 new highs and two new lows.