US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow slip as focus turns to tech earnings

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* Kansas City surges on $30 bln bid from Canadian National
* Nike falls as Citi moves to sidelines
* Tobacco cos fall on report over U.S. plan to limit
nicotine
* Indexes: Dow down 0.33%, S&P falls 0.15%, Nasdaq up 0.02%

(Updates to market open)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Medha Singh
April 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow slipped for a
second straight day on Tuesday, with investors pinning their
hopes on results from Netflix and other major tech-related
companies this week to help sustain an upbeat start to the
earnings season.
Video-streaming service provider Netflix NFLX.O , which
thrived during last year's lockdowns, will be the first to
report quarterly numbers in the so called FAANG group. Its
shares rose 1.3% in early trading, ahead of its results after
the closing bell.
The broader NYSE FANG+TM index .NYFANG added about 0.05%.
International Business Machines Corp IBM.N rose 3.9% after
recording the biggest rise in quarterly sales in more than two
years, boosted by its bets on cloud computing. Chipmaker Intel Corp INTC.O is slated to report results on
Thursday.
"We are getting a little bit of weakness ... even though the
earnings and economic data is good," said Ryan Detrick, senior
market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"The underlying fundamentals are extremely strong and it
wouldn't be overly concerning after the rally we have seen in
the past 13 months for the market to catch its breath a little
bit more in the face of strong earnings."
After blockbuster earnings from major U.S. banks last week,
analysts expect first-quarter profit for overall S&P 500 firms
to jump 30.9% from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES
data.
Richly valued technology stocks are back in demand as a
pullback in longer-dated bond yields from 14-month highs has
eased worries over higher borrowing costs.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower. The healthcare
.SPXHC index hit an all-time high while technology .SPLRCT ,
utilities .SPLRCU and real estate .SPLRCR traded higher.
At 09:58 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 111.30 points, or 0.33%, to 33,966.33, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 6.10 points, or 0.15%, to 4,157.16 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC gained 2.77 points, or 0.02%, to 13,917.54.
The S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs last week, boosted
by a string of robust economic data and expectations of a strong
corporate earnings season.
Kansas City Southern KSU.N jumped about 15% after Canadian
National CNR.TO offered to buy the U.S. railroad operator for
about $30 billion, trumping a rival bid by Canadian Pacific
CP.TO . The surge in Kansas City shares helped drive a 1.8% gain in
the Dow Jones Transports index .DJT .
Tobacco company Altria Group MO.N tumbled about 7% after
the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration
is considering a rule that would limit nicotine or ban menthol
in cigarettes.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rose 1.2% after the drugmaker beat
expectations for quarterly earnings and raised its dividend.
Nike Inc NKE.N dropped about 2.5% after Citigroup lowered
its rating on the company's shares to "neutral" from "buy".
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.7-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 45 new 52-week highs and no new lows
while the Nasdaq recorded 40 new highs and 39 new lows.