US STOCKS-Wall St slips in choppy trade as investors focus on stimulus talks

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* Netflix falls on slowing subscriber growth
* Snap Inc surges on jump in user growth
* Abbott rises after profit forecast bump
* Indexes down: Dow 0.29%, S&P 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.19%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh
Oct 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes dipped in
volatile trading on Wednesday as investors closely tracked
ongoing negotiations in Washington related to the coronavirus
stimulus package.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she
hoped to resolve the "appropriations piece" of the aid bill
later in the day. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are also
scheduled to hammer out details of the relief package, that
could be in the range of $2.2 trillion, later on Wednesday.
However, Senate Majority Leader McConnell does not want to
bring a large coronavirus aid bill to the Senate floor before
the election, a senior Republican aide said.
"There is no clarity whether even if they come to an
agreement, it would get through the Senate with Senate Leader
McConnell," said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill
Capital Llc in New York.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX touched a one-month high
earlier on Wednesday as the U.S. election campaign enters its
final stretch.
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden
will face off in their second and final debate on Thursday night
where Trump will attempt to change the trajectory of a race that
Biden is leading, according to national polls. At 12:35 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 81.09 points, or 0.29%, at 28,227.70, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 5.85 points, or 0.17%, at 3,437.27. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 21.68 points, or 0.19%, at 11,494.81.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with consumer
discretionary stocks .SPLRCD weighing the most on S&P 500.
Snap Inc SNAP.N surged 33.1% after the Snapchat messaging
app owner beat user growth and revenue forecasts, as more people
signed up to chat with friends and family during the COVID-19
pandemic. The results boosted the shares of social media companies
Facebook Inc FB.O and Twitter Inc TWTR.N , which were up 4.9%
and 8.1%, while image sharing company Pinterest Inc PINS.N
gained 9.6%.
Gains in Facebook and a 2.7% rise for Google-parent Alphabet
Inc GOOGL.O lifted the communication services sector .SPLRCL
by 1.5%.
Netflix Inc NFLX.O kicked off earnings from the Big Tech
club, and was down 6.5% after it missed expectations for
subscriber growth as streaming competition increased and live
sports returned to television. Of the 84 S&P 500 firms that have reported third-quarter
results, 85.7% have topped expectations for earnings, according
to IBES Refinitiv data.
The U.S. central bank's "Beige Book" report, a snapshot of
the economy gleaned from discussions with business contacts, is
scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose 1.5% as investors
geared up for its quarterly report after the closing bell.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.49-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.51-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 19 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 50 new highs and 22 new lows.