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* Pence takes aim at China in wide-ranging critique
* Microsoft gains on upbeat cloud sales forecast
* PayPal, Tesla among top boosts on Nasdaq
* 3M drops on lowering profit outlook
* Dow off 0.14%, S&P 500 up 0.14%, Nasdaq up 0.70%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Oct 24 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq index rose on
Thursday, boosted by gains in Microsoft and PayPal, but Vice
President Mike Pence's comments on China rekindled worries ahead
of trade talks.
Pence accused China of curtailing "rights and liberties" in
Hong Kong in a wide-ranging critique of Beijing's behavior but
also insisted that the United States does not seek confrontation
or to "de-couple" from its main economic rival. Still, the third-quarter earnings season took center stage
as investors tried to gauge the fallout from the U.S.-China
tariff war on the domestic economy.
Tech giant Microsoft Corp MSFT.O gained 2.3% as its
outlook for cloud computing services surpassed analysts'
expectations, while PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O rose 8% on a
strong full-year earnings forecast. But the blue-chip Dow Jones index .DJI was in the red,
dragged down by a 4.2% fall in shares of 3M Co MMM.N after the
industrial conglomerate lowered its full-year profit forecast.
The S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT traded 1.5% higher,
clocking the biggest gain among the 11 major S&P sectors, while
the communication services sector .SPLRCL slipped as Twitter
Inc TWTR.N tumbled about 20% following disappointing quarterly
results.
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 12:55 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 37.53 points, or 0.14%, at 26,796.42, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 4.14 points, or 0.14%, at 3,008.66.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 56.96 points, or 0.70%,
at 8,176.75.
Lam Research Corp LRCX.O jumped 11.3%, providing the
biggest boost to the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX ,
which rose 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 16.7% 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.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.16-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.34-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 28 new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 53 new highs and 39 new lows.