US STOCKS-Wall St higher on tech boost, focus shifts to earnings

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* Verizon rises as Q2 profit beats estimates
* Kellogg jumps on quarterly profit, sales beat
* Qualcomm slides on weak rev, profit forecast
* Indexes up: Dow 0.36%, S&P 500 0.47%, Nasdaq 0.88%

(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks bounced back on Thursday,
helped by technology shares as focus shifted to corporate
earnings after a cautious message from the Federal Reserve on
interest rates drove some of the biggest falls since May in the
previous session.
The U.S. central bank reduced borrowing costs by a
widely-expected quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, but
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled a series of further cuts was
unlikely, leading to a sharp selloff on the S&P 500 and Dow.
Despite that, all three major indexes posted their second
straight monthly gains in July, closing the book on a month in
which the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached fresh record highs.
"It was always going to be a tough job for the Fed to be as
dovish as stock markets hoped. The 25 bps cut was a non-event,"
said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, in a note.
"With the Fed out of the way there is a chance that we can
all get back to focusing on earnings and how earnings season
continues to paint a broadly positive picture."
Almost three weeks through earnings, reports so far have
been strong. Of the 296 companies in the S&P 500 that have
reported second-quarter earnings, 74.7% have beaten Street
estimates for profit, according to Refinitiv data.
The S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT , Wall Street's best
performer so far this year, rose 1.12% after a 1.5% drop in the
previous session.
Verizon Communications Inc VZ.N rose 1.41%, driving a
0.85% gain in the communication services sector .SPLRCL , after
the wireless carrier beat quarterly profit estimates as it added
far more net new phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill than
expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 96.27 points,
or 0.36%, to 26,960.54, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 14.11 points,
or 0.47%, to 2,994.49.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 71.57 points, or 0.88%,
to 8,246.99.
Kellogg Co K.N jumped 9.52% after the company beat
analysts' expectations for quarterly sales and profit, driven by
higher demand for its snacks, including Pringles and Pop-Tarts,
in North America. But not all reports were upbeat.
Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O dropped 3.32% after the chipmaker's
quarterly revenue and profit forecast fell short of Wall Street
targets.
Among other decliners, the energy sector .SPNY slid 0.59%,
the most among the 11 major S&P sectors, as oil prices declined
on Fed commentary on further rate cuts and as rising U.S. output
helped keep the market well supplied. O/R
Shares of oil major Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N dropped 0.65%,
while Chevron Corp CVX.N dipped 0.04%. Both companies are due
to report earnings on Friday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.23-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.94-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and five new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 44 new lows.