US STOCKS-Dow, S&P close lower as IBM, Intel weigh, coronavirus concerns rise

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* IBM hits two-month low on quarterly revenue miss
* Intel slips on avoiding outsourcing embrace
* Yellen wins unanimous Senate panel vote for Treasury

(Adds comment; updates market prices to close; adds closing
details)
By Echo Wang
NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 ended
modestly lower on Friday, dragged down by losses in blue-chip
technology stalwarts Intel and IBM following their quarterly
results, as hopes for a full economic reopening in the coming
months waned.
IBM Corp IBM.N slumped and was the top drag on the Dow
Jones Industrial Average .DJI after it missed estimates for
quarterly revenue, hurt by a rare sales decline in its software
unit. Intel Corp INTC.O slipped as new Chief Executive Officer
Pat Gelsinger's post-earnings comments suggested the lack of a
strong embrace of outsourcing. However, losses in the tech sector were offset by gains from
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc
FB.O , keeping the declines on the main U.S. stock indexes in
check and lifting the Nasdaq slightly.
Energy .SPNY and financials were the worst performers
among the 11 S&P sectors on Friday, while the defensive
utilities .SPLRCU and real estate .SPLRCR advanced.
"Any delay or setback in the reopening theme is probably
going to be a headwind for the energy sector," said Andrew Mies,
chief investment officer at 6 Meridien in Wichita, Kansas.
"(But)the market is telling you that its confidence in the
cyclicals are diminished right now."
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pared some losses shortly after
the opening bell as data showed U.S. manufacturing activity
surprisingly surged to its highest level in more than
13-1/2-years in early January, in contrast to a
disappointing result in the purchasing manager data in Europe
earlier.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
179.03 points, or 0.57%, to 30,996.98, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
11.6 points, or 0.30%, to 3,841.47 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 12.15 points, or 0.09%, to 13,543.06.
Despite the weakness, the three major indexes were set for
weekly gains, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq tracking for its best
weekly performance since Nov. 6 as investors piled into Alphabet
Inc GOOGL.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O in
anticipation of their earnings reports in the coming weeks.
With stock valuations nearing levels not seen since the
Dotcom era, some market participants said new COVID-19 variants
and hiccups in vaccine rollouts pose near-term risks.
President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economic crisis
was deepening and that the government needs to take major action
now to help struggling Americans. "The absolute assurance that investors felt a week ago with
regards to how the reopening of the vaccination, the decline in
the virus, some of that starting to fade out of the market."
Mies added.
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Janet
Yellen's nomination as the first woman Treasury secretary,
indicating that she will easily win full Senate approval.
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