US STOCKS-Wall St ends higher as investors eye stimulus

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* Apple approaches $2 trillion market capitalization
* Top Senate Democrat says relief talks progressing
* AIG, Ralph Lauren slide after results disappoint

(Adds detail, comment from economist)
By Noel Randewich and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher after a choppy
session on Tuesday, lifted by Apple and energy stocks but
limited by declines in AIG and Microsoft while investors awaited
more U.S. government stimulus to fight economic fallout from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Apple AAPL.O climbed 0.7%, up for a fifth straight session
as investors cheered the iPhone maker's blowout quarterly report
last week. The Silicon Valley heavyweight is around $120 billion
away from becoming the first U.S. publicly listed company with a
stock market value of $2 trillion.
The S&P 500 energy index .SPNY jumped 2.45% and was the
strongest performer among 11 sectors, while healthcare declined
.SPXHC .
Ralph Lauren Corp RL.N dropped 4.4% to its lowest since
May after quarterly revenue plunged due to coronavirus-related
store closures and a slowdown in global demand for luxury goods.
American International Group Inc AIG.N tumbled 7.5% after
its quarterly adjusted profit slumped. Notwithstanding those two reports, about 83% of the 352
companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly results so
far have beaten estimates for earnings, according to IBES
Refinitiv data.
"Investors are still comfortable that the trajectory of
earnings is on the right path and the 2021 outlook has remained
intact. All that helps support the market at these levels," said
Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest.
"But there is an underlying level of uncertainty leading to
a bit of caution," Bell added.
Investors are awaiting a major new coronavirus-aid bill,
with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer saying talks with
the White House were moving in the "right direction."
A rally in tech-related stocks and trillions of dollars in
monetary and fiscal stimulus have lifted the S&P 500 to within
about 3% of February's record high.
"I do not expect U.S. equities to revisit the March lows,"
Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz SE, told
the Reuters Global Markets Forum chat room.
"I suspect the next big correction will likely be one
triggered by corporate defaults and other capital impairment
events that central banks cannot shield against," he said.
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , which is looking to buy short-video
app TikTok's U.S. operations, fell 1.5%.
White House officials could not say how the U.S. government
would receive a portion of the proceeds from any sale of
TikTok's U.S. operations, one day after President Donald Trump
called for a cut of the money. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.62% to end at
26,828.47 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.36% to
3,306.51.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 0.35% to 10,941.17.
Evergy Inc EVRG.N slumped nearly 12% after two sources
said the board of the Midwest utility planed to remain
independent as bids solicited from prospective merger partners
did not offer sufficient value. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc TTWO.O rose nearly 6%
after it raised its annual adjusted sales forecast on demand for
its videogame franchises "Grand Theft Auto" and "NBA 2K".
Walt Disney Co DIS.N fell 2% in extended trade following
its quarterly report.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.98-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.55-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 129 new highs and 10 new lows.
About 9.7 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges,
compared with a 10.4 billion daily average over the last 20
sessions.