US STOCKS-Tech stocks gain as S&P 500 flirts with record high

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* Home improvement retailers seen getting sales boost
* Principia Biopharma at record high on Sanofi buyout
* Nvidia hits record high on PT raises
* Dow dips 0.19%, S&P up 0.32%, Nasdaq rises 0.77%

(Updates to midday)
By Ambar Warrick and Medha Singh
Aug 17 (Reuters) - Technology-related shares were the top
boosts to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Monday, bringing the
benchmark index close to a record high as focus turned to
earnings from big retailers later this week.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX traded just a point shy of a
record intraday high of 3,386.15 hit in February, after testing
that level for most of last week, while the Dow Jones .DJI was
weighed down by losses in financial and industrial stocks.
Chipmaker Nvidia Corp NVDA.O was among the top boosts to
the Nasdaq, touching a record high as two brokerages raised
price targets ahead of its quarterly results on Wednesday.
Home improvement chains such as Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N and
Home Depot Inc HD.N rose more than 2% each ahead of their
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 .SPXRT rose 1%, with
heavyweights Walmart Inc WMT.N and Target Corp TGT.N also
set to report results.
"Earnings season in general has been much better than
expected, but a big part of that is because the expectation has
been so low," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at
Baird in Milwaukee.
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 tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC was the first of the major
Wall Street indexes to recoup its coronavirus-induced losses as
several of its largest constituents, including Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O and Netflix Inc NFLX.O , benefited from curbs on
social activity.
"We had a big decline and we've had a big rally off of those
lows. The question right now is what does the path from here
look like. Whether it's recovery in earnings, what the consumer
does and if markets can continue to move higher," Baird's
Delwiche added.
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.
Caution is expected to seep into markets 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. At 12:33 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 53.35 points, or 0.19%, at 27,877.67, the S&P 500
.SPX was up 10.82 points, or 0.32%, at 3,383.67. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 84.98 points, or 0.77%, at 11,104.28.
Eight 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. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.31-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.18-to-1 ratio on Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 28 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 71 new highs and nine new lows.