*

Ford, GM fall after tariff threats

*

Best Buy ( BBY ) drops after trimming annual sales, profit

forecast

*

Amgen ( AMGN ) falls as keenly awaited obesity drug data

disappoints

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Wells Fargo ( WFC ) up on report of likely lifting of asset cap

2025

*

Indexes: Dow flat, S&P 500 up 0.41%, Nasdaq up 0.51%

(Updates with mid-session trading)

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 26 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq

extended recent gains on Tuesday, as technology stocks

rebounded, while investors digested President-elect Donald

Trump's tariff pledges on top trade partners and the latest

minutes from the Federal Reserve.

U.S. short-term interest-rate futures pared earlier losses

after the Fed's latest minutes showed officials appeared divided

over how much further they may need to cut interest rates.

The minutes of the Nov. 6-7 meeting also showed the group

agreed this was a moment to avoid giving much concrete guidance

about how U.S. monetary policy is likely to evolve in the weeks

ahead.

Trump said he would impose a 25% conditional tariff on

Canadian and Mexican imports that could violate a free-trade

deal he negotiated during his previous term. He also outlined

"an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs" on

imports from China, raising the risk of trade wars.

Automakers Ford and General Motors ( GM ) - which have

highly integrated supply chains across Mexico, the U.S. and

Canada - lost 2.2% and 8.3%, respectively.

"The concern is that some products are going to become more

costly and that will mean revenue for those companies that are

possibly manufacturing those goods overseas is going to

decline," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota

Wealth.

"It's a lot of back-and-forth right now because investors

are trying to position themselves for January and the days after

and they're not really sure."

At 2:11 p.m. EST the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 15.74 points, or 0.04%, to 44,720.83, the S&P 500

gained 24.38 points, or 0.41%, to 6,011.75 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 96.90 points, or 0.51%, to 19,152.47.

Gains in megacaps such as Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL )

boosted the information technology sector and

the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

"Markets have become desensitized to tariffs as most believe

the rhetoric to be more aggressive than the eventual tariffs

themselves," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris

Financial Group

"It also doesn't hurt that the economy is showing up

stronger lately, which helps to offset the fiscal drag of

tariffs in the short run."

Well Fargo stood out among sluggish banking stocks,

gaining almost 1.3% after Reuters reported, citing sources, that

the bank is in the last stages of a process to pass regulatory

tests to lift a $1.95 trillion asset cap next year after fixing

problems from its scandal over fake accounts.

The blue-chip Dow was weighed down by declines in Amgen ( AMGN )

, which slid 7.6% after its experimental obesity drug

fell short of expectations.

The S&P 500 touched a record high on Monday and logged its

sixth-straight session of gains, while the Russell 2000

also scaled an all-time high after three years. On the day, the

small-cap index fell 0.6%.

Among others, Eli Lilly rose 5.1% after U.S. President Joe

Biden was set to propose expanding Medicare and Medicaid

coverage for anti-obesity drugs.

Best Buy ( BBY ) lost 5.7% and was among top decliners on

the S&P 500 after trimming its annual profit and sales

forecasts.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.88-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 231 new highs and 39 new lows on the

NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 45 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 85 new lows.