(Updates to close)

*

Apple ( AAPL ) to announce $100-billion pledge, says White House

official

*

Earnings reports continue to come in mostly better than

expected

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on

Wednesday, led by a more than 1% gain in the Nasdaq, as Apple ( AAPL )

shares climbed after news of its plans to announce a domestic

manufacturing pledge, and as the latest batch of corporate

reports was mostly upbeat.

Shares of Apple ( AAPL ) jumped and provided the biggest boost

to all three of the major indexes after a White House official

said the company would announce a $100-billion domestic

manufacturing pledge.

In addition, shares of McDonald's were up after the

fast-food restaurant's affordable menu drove global sales past

expectations, while Arista Networks ( ANET ) shares jumped after

the cloud networking company projected current-quarter revenue

above estimates.

"Earnings continue to come in better than expected," said

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

He said while there is uncertainty surrounding tariffs,

investors appear to be upbeat about the near term.

Results are now in from about 400 of the S&P 500 companies

for the second-quarter earnings season.

About 80% of reports are beating analyst earnings

expectations - above the 76% average of the last four quarters -

and earnings growth for the quarter is estimated at 12.1%, up

from 5.8% at the start of July, according to LSEG data.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an additional

25% tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi's continued imports

of Russian oil.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained

46.06 points, or 0.72%, to end at 6,344.67 points, while the

Nasdaq Composite gained 251.97 points, or 1.21%, to

21,168.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 79.42

points, or 0.18%, to 44,191.16.

Also positive for stocks were increasing bets for a

September interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Last

week's jobs report showed slowing employment growth and downward

revisions for previous months.

Odds for next month's rate cut stand at 93.2%, compared with

just 46.7% last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Traders also bet on at least two cuts by the end of 2025.

Among the day's decliners, shares of chip company Advanced Micro

Devices ( AMD ) and server maker Super Micro Computer ( SMCI )

fell sharply after the companies posted disappointing results in

their data center segments.

Walt Disney ( DIS ) delivered a strong quarter and lifted its

full-year outlook, but its shares slipped.

(Additional reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in

Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Rod Nickel)