(Recasts with preliminary close of trading, adds analyst

comment, market details)

*

Amazon ( AMZN ) jumps as cloud growth beats expectations

*

Apple ( AAPL ) forecasts upbeat holiday-quarter iPhone sales

*

Warner Bros jumps after Reuters report of Netflix ( NFLX ) bid

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Oct 31 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq ended with more pronounced

gains than the S&P 500 and the Dow on Friday with a strong boost

from Amazon's ( AMZN ) upbeat earnings forecast, but investor moods were

dampened by worries that the Federal Reserve is becoming more

cautious about cutting rates

Amazon ( AMZN ) shares rallied sharply, hitting an all-time

high after the online retailer forecast quarterly sales above

estimates. Apple's ( AAPL ) share move was more subdued after

its forecast for iPhone holiday quarter sales surpassed Wall

Street expectations but CEO Tim Cook flagged supply constraints.

In remarks that cooled investor hopes for policy easing, Federal

Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said on Friday

that a December rate cut was not locked in despite market

expectations for a cut. And Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

President Beth Hammack said she had opposed Wednesday's rate cut

because inflation is too high.

On Friday, traders were pricing in a 63% probability of a

December rate cut, down from 72.8% on Thursday, according to CME

Group's FedWatch tool.

"The theme today is pretty similar to what we saw yesterday.

It's earnings coming in a little better than expected but

tempered by a little more hawkish commentary from the Fed," said

James Ragan, co-CIO and director of investment management

research at D.A. Davidson.

Jake Seltz, portfolio manager for the Empiric LT Equity

team at Allspring, said investors "may have gotten in front of

their skis" in their bets for lower rates.

Some grocery stocks traded lower on Friday on worries about a

dip in November sales if federal food aid benefits, known as the

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, lapse in the

ongoing government shutdown.

Two federal judges ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump's

administration cannot suspend food aid for millions of Americans

during the ongoing government shutdown, saying the government

must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits. But shares

of grocer Kroger ( KR ), food supplier Conagra Brands ( CAG )

and retail giant Walmart ( WMT ) were still down after the

rulings.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained

18.12 points, or 0.29%, to end at 6,841.83 points, while the

Nasdaq Composite gained 144.74 points, or 0.61%, to

23,725.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 40.01

points, or 0.08%, to 47,562.13.

Of the 315 S&P 500 companies that have reported

third-quarter results so far, 83.2% have surpassed analysts'

estimates, according to LSEG data. That is well above the

historical average, where roughly 67% of firms beat forecasts.

With a lack of economic data from the government due to the

month-long shutdown, Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at

Bokeh Capital, said investors were keenly focused on earnings

reports.

"The government isn't giving us the data that we have become

dependent on, so we're using companies as we should by the way

for guidance about how the economy is going," she said.

In other moves, Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) rose following a

Reuters report that Netflix ( NFLX ) was actively exploring a

bid for the company's studio and streaming business.

Netflix ( NFLX ) rose after it unveiled plans for a 10-for-1 stock

split.

Western Digital ( WDC ) rallied to an all-time high after

forecasting quarterly earnings above Wall Street estimates. And

Solar panel maker First Solar ( FSLR ) shares surged after

surpassing expectations for third-quarter sales.