US STOCKS-S&P ends choppy session lower as U.S. stimulus talks drag on

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* Stimulus in focus as Pelosi, Mnuchin are set to talk
* Netflix falls on slowing subscriber growth
* Snap rise on user growth boosting social media space
* Indexes fall: Dow 0.35%, S&P 0.22%, Nasdaq 0.28%

(Updates to close, adds trading volume)
By Sinéad Carew
Oct 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three major averages closed
lower on Wednesday after a volatile trading session, as
investors worried whether difficult negotiations in Washington
would produce a deal for a fresh U.S. coronavirus stimulus
package.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that while
there are a number of differences between the White House and
Congressional Democrats, Republican President Donald Trump was
"willing to lean into" working on an agreement. Before starting afternoon talks with Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there was
still a chance for a deal despite resistance from Senate
Republicans, though she acknowledged it might not pass until
after the election. "As long as she keeps dangling the carrot out there that
there's still a chance that something could get done investors
continue to remain optimistic," said Michael James, managing
director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
"You would rather have more long exposure than have too much
cash if an agreement is reached. That's a big if."
James said investors were holding out hope a deal could be
reached on Thursday. "Everybody's going to be sitting on pins
and needles waiting for the next headline between now and the
end of tomorrow's trading day."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 97.97 points,
or 0.35%, to 28,210.82, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.56 points, or
0.22%, to 3,435.56 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
31.80 points, or 0.28%, to 11,484.69.
After the closing bell, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said
the day's session "brings us closer to being able to put pen to
paper to write legislation." W1N2GK042
Instead of plowing money into the market broadly, Michael
O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford,
Connecticut said investors picked stocks as they looked at
third-quarter financial results.
Of the 11 major industry sectors nine closed lower with
energy .SPNY leading the percentage decliners. Communications
services .SPLRCL was the biggest gainer.
Shares in Snapchat messaging app owner Snap Inc SNAP.N
finished up 28% after it beat user growth and revenue forecasts,
as more people signed up to chat with friends and family during
the COVID-19 pandemic. The news helped boost other social media companies with
Facebook Inc FB.O , up 4% and Twitter Inc TWTR.N climbing 8%
in the communications services index. Smaller social media firm
Pinterest Inc PINS.N also gained close to 9%.
Dampening the mood however was Netflix Inc NFLX.O , which
tumbled almost 7% after it kicked off earnings for the market's
high-flyers club. The video streaming service missed
expectations for subscriber growth as competition increased and
live sports returned to television. Of the 84 S&P 500 firms that have reported third-quarter
results, 85.7% have topped expectations for earnings, according
to IBES Refinitiv data.
Investors also have their eyes on the upcoming elections.
Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will face off in their
second and final debate on Thursday night. Shares in electric-car maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose 4%
after the closing bell after it reported quarterly earnings.
Tesla beat analysts' estimates for third-quarter revenue as it
made record vehicle deliveries, overcoming disruptions caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.87-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.69-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 55 new highs and 36 new lows.
On U.S. exchanges 8.84 billion shares changed hands compared
with the 9.14 billion average for the last 20 sessions.