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* Gilead up as remdesivir wins approval for treating COVID
in U.S.
* Intel slumps as quarterly margins fall
* American Express drops as profit falls short of estimates
* Indexes: S&P up 0.17%; Dow, Nasdaq flat
(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes struggled for
direction on Friday as investors fretted over an impasse in
Washington on the new coronavirus aid bill, while turning
cautious ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The Dow and the Nasdaq were weighed down by a 10.8% slump in
chipmaker Intel Corp INTC.O after it reported a drop in
margins as consumers bought cheaper laptops and
pandemic-stricken businesses and governments clamped down on
data center spending. Uncertainty over the timeline of the relief legislature has
been weighing on Wall Street's major indexes, which were set to
end a choppy week slightly lower.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said late on
Thursday that negotiations with lawmakers on a coronavirus
relief package, now totaling $1.9 trillion, had entered a new
phase.
"We are kind of on a hold at this point.. still waiting for
something to come out of Washington," said Paul Nolte, portfolio
manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
"Our base case is that we don't get a meaningful stimulus
package until after the election and probably not until first
quarter."
Meanwhile, a record 50 million Americans cast ballots,
eclipsing total early voting from the 2016 election. President
Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden debated on Thursday
for the last time to persuade the few remaining undecided voters
11 days before their contest. Heading into the debate, Trump trailed former vice president
Biden in national polls, but the contest is much tighter in some
battleground states where the election will likely be decided.
At 11:13 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 14.50 points, or 0.05%, at 28,349.16 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 6.04 points, or 0.17%, at 3,459.53. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 4.20 points, or 0.04%, at 11,501.81.
Third-quarter earnings season chugged along, with 84% of the
126 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far topping
quarterly profit estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O jumped 1.8% as its antiviral
drug remdesivir became the first and only drug approved for
treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United
States. The healthcare index .SPXHC added 0.7%, more than any
other S&P sector.
American Express Co AXP.N dropped 2.7% as it missed
estimates for third-quarter profit after its customers spent
less during the COVID-19 fueled economic slowdown and it set
aside money for potential payment defaults. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.61-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.28-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 12 new lows.