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* Boeing, Caterpillar end higher despite earnings misses
* Texas Instruments leads declines among chip stocks
* Nike shares fall on CEO departure
* Indexes up: Dow 0.17%, S&P 500 0.28%, Nasdaq 0.19%
(Updates to market close, new throughout)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on
Wednesday as investors shrugged off lackluster quarterly reports
from industrial bellwethers Boeing Co BA.N and Caterpillar Inc
CAT.N , though a lower-than-expected revenue outlook from Texas
Instruments Inc TXN.O sent chipmakers' shares lower.
Shares of Boeing and Caterpillar rose more than 1% despite
significant earnings misses from both companies. Boeing reported
a 53% drop in quarterly profit but reaffirmed the timeline for
its grounded 737 MAX's return to service. Asian sales tumbled, but the company said tariffs
stemming from the U.S.-China trade war would have a smaller
impact on its business than previously forecast. With no new developments in trade relations, focus turned to
earnings and other announcements from individual companies.
Boeing and Caterpillar's shares were resilient, several analysts
said, because the companies' slide in earnings was expected
given the challenges they have faced throughout the year.
"Caterpillar has certainly been beset by trade war impact,
so it wasn't necessarily all that surprising," said Shannon
Saccocia, chief investment officer at Boston Private. "Boeing
has had its own issues from the perspective of the 737 MAX."
Texas Instruments shares, however, tumbled 7.5% after the
chipmaker projected fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street
estimates. The results sent shares of other semiconductor
companies, including Intel Corp INTC.O and Broadcom Inc
AVGO.O , lower as well. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index
dropped 1.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 45.85 points,
or 0.17%, to 26,833.95, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 8.53 points,
or 0.28%, to 3,004.52 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
15.50 points, or 0.19%, to 8,119.79.
Advances in Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O
shares helped buoy the major indexes.
Apple shares rose 1.3% after Morgan Stanley said the iPhone
maker's soon-to-be-launched video streaming service, Apple TV+,
could boost its services revenue.
Facebook shares advanced 2.1% after Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg sought to reassure U.S. lawmakers about the company's
planned digital currency, Libra. Nike Inc NKE.N shares fell 3.4% after the sportswear
company announced late on Tuesday that Mark Parker, its
long-time CEO, would step down next year. Nike tapped John
Donahoe, chief executive of ServiceNow Inc NOW.N , as Parker's
successor. ServiceNow shares fell 3.6%.
Shares of medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp
BSX.N and laboratory equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific
Inc TMO.N jumped after both companies reported strong results.
Boston Scientific shares ended 5.0% higher and Thermo Fisher
shares closed up 5.7%.
Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N shares, however, fell 2.2% after
the drugmaker missed third-quarter revenue estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.75-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.17-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 22 new 52-week highs and one new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 61 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.11 billion shares, compared
to the 6.46 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.