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Tesla jumps after strong sales forecast

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UPS advances following quarterly profit beat

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Boeing ( BA ) down after workers reject latest contract

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Weekly jobless claims lower than forecasts

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Indexes: Dow down 0.55%, S&P 500 down 0.01%, Nasdaq up

0.37%

(Updated at 11:55 a.m. ET/1555 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Oct 24 (Reuters) -

The Nasdaq jumped on Thursday, driven by Tesla's positive

earnings forecast, which buoyed market sentiment despite

declines from other corporate results and pressure from rising

Treasury yields.

Shares of the company soared 19%, with the EV-maker set to

add more than $100 billion to its market capitalization, after

it reported robust third-quarter profits and surprised investors

with a prediction of 20% to 30% sales growth next year.

This helped take the Consumer Discretionary sector

2.7% higher.

"Musk said a lot of things investors wanted to hear -

growth rates at double what the Street had, Robotaxi timelines

that were a bit ahead of expectations. It puts confidence back

in the stock," said Dennis Dick, trader at Triple D Trading, who

holds Tesla shares.

However, sentiment was shaky elsewhere. The S&P 500

pared gains, with nine of its sectors in the red, as other

earnings reports and continued pressure from rising Treasury

yields weighed.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note

eased slightly on the day, but was still trading

around its highest since late July. It went as high as 4.26% in

Wednesday's session, which saw all three major equity indexes

lose ground.

Other megacap growth stocks reversed early gains, with

Nvidia ( NVDA ) down 0.2% and Apple ( AAPL ) losing 0.5%.

IBM ( IBM ) lost 6.5% after missing third-quarter revenue

estimates, while Honeywell's ( HON ) 4.3% decline after it

forecast annual sales below estimates also weighed on the

blue-chip Dow.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 234.37 points,

or 0.55%, to 42,280.58, the S&P 500 lost 0.33 points, or

0.01%, to 5,797.09 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 67.23

points, or 0.37%, to 18,343.89.

Materials dropped 1.4%, dragged down by

Newmont ( NEM ) as higher costs and weaker Nevada output saw it

miss

profit

estimates.

Boeing ( BA ) also lost 2% after factory workers voted on

Wednesday to reject a contract offer and continue a more than

five-week-long strike.

Stocks have eased from record levels over the past few

sessions due to a reassessment of bets on the Federal Reserve's

rate cuts, rising Treasury yields, corporate earnings and

uncertainty surrounding the upcoming U.S. election.

The pullback, however, was to be expected, Dick said.

"The story is still in tech and (artificial intelligence), and

that story is not going away, I would still say dips in tech

need to be bought."

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) lost 3.6% after earnings and

after the company reached an

agreement

with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.

On a brighter note, UPS added 5.2% after the

parcel service provider reported a rise in third-quarter

profit

, on rebounding volumes and cost cuts.

Of the 159 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported

results this earnings season, 78.6% have beaten analyst

expectations, according to data compiled by LSEG.

On the economic front, S&P Global's flash PMI data

showed U.S.

business activity

increased in October, amid strong demand. Weekly

jobless claims

also fell unexpectedly for the week ended Oct. 19.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.04-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and three new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 57 new highs and 64

new lows.