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* Boeing falls after reporting $3 bln loss
* Caterpillar slips on lower quarterly earnings
* Texas Instruments hits record on upbeat results
* Indexes: Dow -0.48%, S&P 500 +0.16%, Nasdaq +0.38%
(Updates to afternoon)
By Noel Randewich
July 24 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq hit a record high on
Wednesday and the S&P 500 was close behind as reassuring
comments from Texas Instruments about global chip demand blunted
the impact of weak earnings reports from Boeing and Caterpillar.
Texas Instruments Inc TXN.O jumped 7.1% after the company
hinted that a global slowdown in microchip demand would not be
as long as feared, powering the Philadelphia chip .SOX index
up 2.8% to a record high. "Semiconductor investors are looking past right now and
saying that maybe in the second half of this year, economic
concerns will start to abate a little," said Willie Delwiche, an
investment strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
However, trade-sensitive Caterpillar Inc CAT.N dropped
4.1% following disappointing earnings on weak sales in China and
higher production and restructuring costs. Boeing Co BA.N fell 2.8% after the world's largest
planemaker posted its largest-ever quarterly loss on the back of
this year's grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX after two
deadly crashes. Those two companies' bleak reports left the Dow Jones
Industrial Average in negative territory.
Two weeks into an earnings season with mute investor
expectations, about 77% of the 138 S&P 500 companies that have
reported so far have topped earnings estimates, according to
Refinitiv data.
Overall earnings per share, however, are now expected to
fall 0.1%, compared with prior estimate of a rise of about 1%.
Wall Street has hit record levels in July on bets the
Federal Reserve will lower rates next week to counter the impact
of a protracted U.S.-China trade war on economic growth.
At 2:15 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 0.48% at 27,217.97 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained
0.16% to 3,010.34. The S&P 500 was 0.1% below its record high
close on July 15.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.38% to 8,283.09,
beating its July 15 high.
Another bright spot was United Parcel Service Inc UPS.N ,
up 8.5% and among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500 index,
after the world's biggest package delivery company reported a
better-than-expected quarterly profit. Facebook Inc FB.O traded flat ahead of its quarterly
report after the market closes.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.08-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.96-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 66 new highs and 87 new lows.