US STOCKS-S&P 500 climbs toward record high, earnings in focus

* Halliburton rises after 2nd-qtr profit beats estimates
* Boeing falls after Fitch revises ratings outlook
* Tech stocks lead S&P sectors
* Indexes: Dow +0.07%, S&P 500 +0.28%, Nasdaq +0.71%

(Updates to close)
By Noel Randewich
July 22 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 climbed toward a record high
on Monday, supported by expectations of lower interest rates,
while investors awaited quarterly earnings from marquee
companies Facebook, Alphabet and Amazon later this week.
Facebook Inc FB.O rallied 2.0% ahead of its report due out
after the bell on Wednesday, while Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and
Google-parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O were each up more than 0.7%
ahead of their reports on Thursday.
Investors' reactions to the reports of these top-tier growth
companies could affect broader market sentiment, with the S&P
500 about 1% below its July 15 record high close.
"How is that going to affect my other tech holdings and the
market overall? That is more worrying than my actual investment
in Alphabet," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of
Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The technology index .SPLRCT jumped 1.2%, the most among
the S&P sectors, while the Philadelphia chip index .SOX surged
almost 2%. Apple added 2.3% to $207.22 after Morgan Stanley
raised its price target to $247 from $231.
Shares of Boeing Co BA.N fell 1.0% and pressured the
blue-chip Dow index .DJI after ratings agency Fitch revised
its outlook on the planemaker to "negative" from "stable," while
the tech-heavy Nasdaq was lifted by chipmakers. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday and money
markets are pricing in a more than 50% chance of a
10-basis-point cut in interest rates. Federal Reserve officials
are set to meet just days later, and are widely expected to
lower rates by at least 25 basis points.
Hopes of an interest rate cut have helped Wall Street's main
indexes hit record levels this month, recovering from a slump in
May caused by a sudden escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions.
About 30% of S&P 500 companies are set to report
second-quarter results this week, with overall profits now
estimated to rise about 1%, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Chip stocks gained on news that White House economic adviser
Larry Kudlow will host a meeting with executives of
semiconductor and software companies on Monday to discuss a U.S.
ban on sales to China's Huawei Technologies HWT.UL .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.07% to end at
27,172.04 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.28% to
2,985.02. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.71% to 8,204.14.
Second-quarter earnings have been mixed so far, with major
banks raising concerns about profit growth in a
low-interest-rate environment. Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and
International Business Machines IBM.N , on the other hand, have
reported better-than-expected earnings.
Halliburton Co HAL.N surged 9.1%, the most among S&P 500
companies, after the oilfield services provider's second-quarter
profit beat analysts' estimates. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.17-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted eight new 52-week highs and five new
lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 47 new highs and 118 new
lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 5.1 billion shares, compared to
the 6.4 billion average for the full session over the last 20
trading days.