US STOCKS-S&P 500 hits record high on robust Merck, Pfizer earnings

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* Merck, Pfizer gain on upbeat earnings
* Alphabet falls after missing profit estimates
* Two-day Fed policy meeting starts on Tuesday
* General Motors up after net profit tops estimates
* Dow up 0.11%, S&P up 0.17%, Nasdaq down 0.28%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 29 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 touched a record high on
Tuesday as investors cheered strong earnings from big drugmakers
Merck and Pfizer, while a disappointing profit from Google
parent Alphabet kept the Nasdaq firmly in the red.
Hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal and expectations of another
rate cut by the Federal Reserve when it concludes its two-day
meeting on Wednesday have kept markets inching higher this week.
Merck & Co Inc MRK.N and Pfizer Inc PFE.N both gained
about 3% after reporting upbeat third-quarter results. The
healthcare sector .SPXHC , which has been the second-worst
performer among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors this year, rose
1.36%. "The healthcare stocks are up after earnings and that's a
good sign," said Shawn Cruz, manager of trader strategy at TD
Ameritrade in Jersey City, New Jersey.
"Some of those stocks have gotten a little bit beat up due
to political risk so there is a lot of room for an upside move."
Shares of Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , however, slipped 2.1% as
its quarterly profit missed estimates due to higher costs.
Third-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies have largely
been better than expected, easing some of the concerns over
growth which have dogged markets this year, with over 77% of the
236 firms to report so far surpassing profit expectations,
according to Refinitiv data.
Other marquee names reporting this week include tech and
internet heavyweights Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O
as well as oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp
CVX.N .
Stocks briefly pulled back from session highs after a U.S.
administration official told Reuters that Washington and Beijing
are continuing to work on an interim trade agreement, but it may
not be completed in time for the U.S. and Chinese leaders to
sign it in Chile next month. All eyes are now on the Fed meeting, where the central bank
is widely expected to deliver a quarter percentage point
interest rate cut for the third time this year.
At 12:39 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 30.49 points, or 0.11%, at 27,121.21 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 5.23 points, or 0.17%, at 3,044.65. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 23.24 points, or 0.28%, at 8,302.75.
General Motors Co GM.N gained 5% after its quarterly net
profit topped estimates but the carmaker slashed its earnings
forecast for 2019 as the 40-day U.S. labor strike by the United
Auto Workers union brought virtually all of its North American
operations to a standstill. Beyond Meat Inc BYND.O tumbled 19% as the vegan burger
maker said it would need to offer more store discounts amid
rising competition. Shares of GrubHub Inc GRUB.N plunged 43% after the online
food delivery company warned of slowing growth as customers
opted to choose from a growing pool of rival providers.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.22-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.11-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 41 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 76 new highs and 55 new lows.