US STOCKS-S&P 500 edges higher on mix of earnings reports, tech shines

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* Microsoft, PayPal propel S&P, Nasdaq higher
* 3M drops on lowered profit outlook, pushes down Dow
* Ford plummets, Tesla soars after results
* Dow off 0.19%, S&P 500 up 0.08%, Nasdaq rises 0.66%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK to
dateline)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 edged
higher on Thursday as strong results from Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O and PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O offset dour results
from 3M Co MMM.N and Twitter Inc TWTR.N .
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose on the strength of Microsoft and
PayPal shares, while a decline in 3M shares weighed down the Dow
Jones Industrial Average.
Microsoft shares gained 2.0% as the tech giant's outlook for
cloud computing services surpassed analysts' expectations, while
PayPal shares rose 8.3% on the payments company's strong
full-year earnings forecast. Microsoft and PayPal were the top
boosts to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Shares of 3M dropped after the industrial conglomerate
missed third-quarter sales estimates and lowered its full-year
profit forecast. The company's U.S. sales dropped 1.1%, and its
Asia-Pacific sales fell 5% as industrial production slowed.
Twitter shares plummeted 20.9% after the social networking
company's revenue and profit missed estimates, in part due to
technical issues with its ad platform. The decline in Twitter
shares capped gains on the S&P 500. The results from 3M pointed to continued fallout from the
U.S.-China trade dispute as tariffs have made business
conditions uncertain for many companies, analysts said. Other
companies, including Caterpillar Inc CAT.N and Texas
Instruments Inc TXN.O , have attributed weak third-quarter
results to trade-related issues.
"It's showing us that the tariff situation continues to be a
major concern for companies in how to spend their money," said
J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade in
Chicago.
A speech from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday
underscored tensions between Washington and Beijing. Pence
accused China of curtailing "rights and liberties" in Hong Kong
but insisted that the United States does not seek to confront or
to "de-couple" from its main economic rival. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 51.39 points,
or 0.19%, to 26,782.56, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 2.54 points,
or 0.08%, to 3,007.06 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
53.91 points, or 0.66%, to 8,173.70.
Lam Research Corp LRCX.O shares jumped 12.6%, hitting a
record high, after the chip equipment maker forecast strong
results for the December quarter. Lam Research was the top boost
to the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX , which rose
2.2% a day after being pressured by losses in Texas Instruments
shares. Ford Motor Co F.N shares tumbled 6.5% after the automaker
cut its profit outlook for the year. By contrast,
Tesla Inc TSLA.O shares surged 17.1% after the electric car
maker reported a surprise quarterly profit. Dow Inc DOW.N shares advanced 3.9% after the chemicals
company beat profit estimates, having cut costs to offset a
sharp drop in global demand. Of the 168 S&P 500 companies that have reported results,
more than 80% have beaten profit expectations, according to
Refinitiv data.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.24-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and three new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 48 new lows.