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* Microsoft gains on upbeat cloud sales forecast
* PayPal, Tesla among top boosts on Nasdaq
* Twitter drops to seven-month low
* 3M drops on lowering profit outlook
* Dow off 0.06%, S&P 500 up 0.26%, Nasdaq up 0.80%
(Adds comments, updates market action)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Oct 24 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes rose on
Thursday, getting a boost from Microsoft and PayPal's strong
earnings, but poor results from 3M pushed the blue-chip Dow
Jones index into the red.
The third-quarter earnings season has taken center stage as
investors try to gauge the fallout from a drawn out U.S.-China
trade war on the domestic economy.
The S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT traded 1.4% higher,
clocking the biggest gain among the 11 major S&P sectors, while
the communication services sector .SPLRCL fell the most as
Twitter Inc TWTR.N tumbled 19% following disappointing
quarterly results.
Tech giant Microsoft Corp MSFT.O gained 2% as its outlook
for cloud computing services surpassed analysts' expectations,
while PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O rose 7.3% on a strong
full-year earnings forecast. 3M Co MMM.N , however, fell 4% after the industrial
conglomerate lowered its full-year profit forecast on weaker
demand. The earnings narrative so far has been fairly positive with
over 80% of the 168 S&P 500 companies that have reported results
beating profit expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
"When earnings season began the bar was set pretty low and
now a host of companies have reported and beaten expectations
... But I wouldn't say we are completely out of the woods," said
Brian Yacktman chief investment officer at YCG Fund in Austin,
Texas.
Data on Thursday was mixed as new orders for key U.S.-made
capital goods fell more than expected in September, while a
private survey showed higher-than-expected factory activity in
the month of October. At 11:35 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 16.03 points, or 0.06%, at 26,817.92 and the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 7.91 points, or 0.26%, at 3,012.43.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 64.86 points, or 0.80%,
at 8,184.66.
Lam Research Corp LRCX.O jumped 12%, boosting the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX by 2% after the chip
equipment maker forecast strong results for the December
quarter. Dow Inc DOW.N gained 2.4% after the company exceeded
profit estimates, while electric car maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O
surged 16% on a surprise quarterly profit. Other high profile companies including Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , Intel Corp INTC.O and Visa Inc V.N are slated to
report after markets close on Thursday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.07-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.05-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 28 new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 52 new highs and 35 new lows.