US STOCKS-Apple lifts Wall Street higher; Fed decision on the horizon

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* Apple shares jump on upbeat results, forecast
* Modest drop in U.S. interest rates widely expected
* AMD leads slide among chip stocks
* Indexes up: Dow 0.21%, S&P 500 0.03%, Nasdaq 0.08%

(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
July 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday on a boost
from Apple's upbeat earnings report, but a drop in chip stocks
capped gains, while investors awaited a widely expected interest
rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Shares of the iPhone maker AAPL.O were up about 5.11%
after the company beat quarterly profit and revenue
expectations, and forecast strong sales for the current quarter.
Apple said its greater China sales dipped only slightly,
easing concerns around the impact of the U.S.-China trade war.
This helped the technology sector .SPLRCT rise 0.48%, but
a 8.56% slide in shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O
kept a lid on gains.
The semiconductor maker forecast third-quarter revenue below
expectations, hit by lower demand for its chips used in gaming
consoles, pushing the Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX
down 1.18%. "Multinational companies have been hit by the trade war, but
with a positive on Apple, it does take some of fears away from
the impact of the dispute," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
The U.S.-China trade talks concluded on Wednesday without
any major breakthrough, a day after global stocks lost footing
as President Donald Trump warned Beijing against trying to wait
out his first term in office to finalize a deal.
The Chinese commerce ministry said the two sides will meet
again in the United States in September, which the White House
confirmed. Meanwhile, market participants are expecting a
quarter-percentage-point cut in borrowing costs by the U.S.
central bank. All eyes will now be on Fed Chairman Jerome
Powell, who is set to hold a news conference after the rates
decision at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), to explain why the move was
necessary and what comes next.
Investors are looking at Powell to appropriately justify his
move by pointing to global growth being hurt by the U.S.-China
trade war, Cardillo said.
Wall Street's main indexes have had a strong run since a
steep selloff in May, with the S&P 500 index .SPX now up 20%
for the year on hopes that a modest rate cut would help combat
slowing growth and boost tame inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 56.88 points,
or 0.21%, to 27,254.9, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.87 points, or
0.03%, to 3,014.05.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 6.63 points, or 0.08%, to
8,280.24.were up 11 points, or 0.14%
Electronic Arts Inc EA.O jumped 7%, the most among S&P 500
companies, after the video game publisher posted quarterly
revenue beat, riding on the continued success of its battle
royale game "Apex Legends".
Beer maker Molson Coors Brewing Co TAP.N slid 7.29%, the
most on the benchmark index, after its quarterly net sales and
profit missed estimates on weak demand. The company also said
its Chief Executive Officer Mark Hunter was retiring.

The ADP National Employment Report, showed private employers
added 156,000 jobs in July, above economists' expectations and
supporting the view of a firm domestic labor market. This comes
ahead of the Labor Department's more comprehensive monthly
non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.21-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 63 new highs and 30 new lows.