US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 down after Apple's sales warning but off session lows

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* Apple down after sales warning
* Walmart forecasts downbeat online sales growth
* Dow down 0.5%, S&P down 0.2%, Nasdaq up 0.1%

(Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 were lower
on Tuesday afternoon as a sales warning from tech bellwether
Apple highlighted the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on
global supply chains.
But indexes were well off their lows of the day and the
Nasdaq edged higher as Apple Inc AAPL.O trimmed its losses.
The world's most valuable technology firm said it would fall
short of its recently announced quarterly sales target because
of slower iPhone production and weaker demand in China. Its
shares were last down 1.8%. Apple suppliers, Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O , Broadcom Inc
AVGO.O , Qorvo Inc QRVO.O and Skyworks Solutions Inc
SWKS.O , were slightly lower.
China-exposed chipmakers slipped, with the Philadelphia SE
Semiconductor index .SOX shedding 1.3%, while the broader S&P
technology sector .SPLRCT lost 0.3%.
"It was more than analysts had expected from Apple," said
Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial
in Newark, New Jersey.
"There will be more companies" to cite the virus' impact,
but she said "it's hard to imagine, especially in the tech
world, one that is so closely correlated with China."
While the exact hit to economic and earnings growth from the
epidemic in China remains to be seen, hopes that the damage
would only be temporary have helped Wall Street's main indexes
climb to record highs in recent sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 141.09 points,
or 0.48%, to 29,256.99, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.08 points, or
0.21%, to 3,373.08 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 9.89
points, or 0.1%, to 9,741.06.
Walmart Inc WMT.N shares rose 1.6% even after the world's
biggest retailer forecast slowing online growth for the year and
reported weak results for the holiday quarter. Conagra Brands Inc CAG.N shed 5.4% after the packaged food
company lowered its full-year profit and sales outlook.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.39-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.20-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 69 new 52-week highs and seven new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 120 new highs and 60 new lows.