Nasdaq, S&P end lower ahead of megacap earnings
Alphabet jumps on earnings beat
Eli Lilly misses weight-loss, diabetes drug estimates
AMD falls, weighing on chip stocks
Updates as of 4 p.m. ET (1000 GMT
By Abigail Summerville
Oct 30 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday as chip stocks tumbled and investors await a host of corporate earnings.
Shares of Alphabet GOOGL.O, the first of the five "Magnificent Seven" megacap stocks that report resultsthis week, rose after the company beat expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on strength in its cloud business and YouTube ad sales.
Microsoft MSFT.O and Meta Platforms META.O are set to report results after the bell, which are expected to provide insight into whether heavy AI investment is translating into better company performances.
Alphabet helped to offset falling chip stocks, weighed by dour forecasts from Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O and Qorvo QRVO.O.
Meanwhile, shares of Super Micro Computer SMCI.O plungedafter Ernst & Young resigned as the company's accountant. Nvidia NVDA.O was also down.
The Information Technology sector .SPLRCT was the biggest sectoral decliner, while Alphabet's gains lifted the CommunicationServices .SPLRCL sector.
“Qorvo, Advanced Micro and Super Micro - those are three pretty big moves that are causing a little bit of angst and taking some of the bloom off the rose from the stellar print from Google last night,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.
"The clear laser focus is going to be on the stock specific reports and guides," James said.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 16.01 points, or 0.27%, to end at 5,816.91 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 96.37 points, or 0.52%, to 18,616.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 65.14 points, or 0.15%, to 42,167.91.
In economic data, the U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annualized rate, according to the Commerce Department's advance estimate of third-quarter GDP, slightly below economists' forecast of 3.0% growth.
A separate report showed U.S. private payrolls growth surged by a higher-than-expected 233,000 jobs in October.
The neck-and-neck race between U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was also at the top of investors' minds ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Starbucks SBUX.O is also set to report earnings after the close.
EliLilly LLY.N fellafter missing sales estimates for its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
Alphabet's cloud revenue growth accelerates on AI boom https://reut.rs/4hpeEwE
The Magnificent Seven https://reut.rs/4hpeHIQ
Reporting by Abigail Summerville
Editing by Marguerita Choy
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