US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq propped up by tech stocks; retail earnings awaited

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Home improvement retailers seen getting sales boost
* Principia Biopharma at record high on Sanofi buyout
* JD.com surges on strong results
* Dow dips 0.11%, S&P rises 0.35%, Nasdaq up 0.72%

(Updates comment, prices, adds details)
By Ambar Warrick and Medha Singh
Aug 17 (Reuters) - Technology-related shares lifted the S&P
500 and Nasdaq on Monday as investors turned to sectors that
have been resilient to the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic,
while awaiting the earnings of big retailers later this week.
Chipmaker Nvidia Corp NVDA.O was among the top gainers on
the Nasdaq, touching a record high ahead of its quarterly
results due on Wednesday.
Home improvement chains such as Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N and
Home Depot Inc HD.N rose more than 1% each ahead of their
quarterly earnings later in the week. The two companies are
expected to have received a bump to their quarterly sales from
consumers looking to do minor repair work, while spending more
time at home.
The S&P 500 retailing index .SPLRT rose 0.9%, with
heavyweights Walmart Inc WMT.N and Target Corp TGT.N also
set to report their earnings.
"Earnings season in general has been much better than
expected, but a big part of that is because expectation has been
so low," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in
Milwaukee.
"What matters for the market now is not what happened last
quarter, it is what happens going forward - whether it is the
economic data or company earnings."
As of Friday, 457 companies in the S&P 500 had posted
results, of which 81.4% came in above dramatically lowered
expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX traded a few points shy of a
record intraday high hit in February after flirting with that
level for most of last week, while the Dow Jones .DJI was
weighed down by losses in financial and industrial stocks.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC was the first of the major
Wall Street indexes to recoup its coronavirus-driven losses as
the bulk of its constituents faced minimal disruptions or, in
some cases, benefited from curbs on social activity.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, due on
Wednesday, are expected to provide more insight into the central
bank's view of an economic recovery, while housing starts data
is also on tap.
Investors are girding their portfolios for market moves
ahead of the U.S. presidential vote, as the election season
kicks into higher gear with the Democratic National Convention,
which runs Monday through Thursday.
The Republican convention will be held from Aug. 24 to Aug.
27 and both will be mostly virtual this year due to the COVID-19
pandemic. At 11:00 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 29.45 points, or 0.11%, at 27,901.57 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 11.75 points, or 0.35%, at 3,384.60. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 79.07 points, or 0.72%, at 11,098.37.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with technology
.SPLRCT providing the biggest support to the benchmark index.
Among individual movers, Principia Biopharma Inc PRNB.O
jumped 9.3% to a record high after French healthcare firm Sanofi
SA SASY.PA said it would buy the company for about $3.7
billion. Shares of Chinese ecommerce player Alibaba Group BABA.N
were flat after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he
could exert pressure on more Chinese companies after he moved to
ban TikTok earlier in the month. Alibaba's peer JD.com Inc JD.O rose 1.9% after it beat
analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.27-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.11-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 23 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 59 new highs and five new lows.