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Alphabet jumps to over three-month high

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Eli Lilly ( LLY ) misses weight-loss, diabetes drug estimates

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AMD falls, weighing on chip stocks

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ADP jobs data posts beat, Q3 GDP advance numbers miss

estimates

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Indexes up: Dow 0.51%, S&P 500 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.24%

(Updated at 12:01 p.m. ET/1601 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal

Oct 30 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock indexes advanced on Wednesday, with the

tech-heavy Nasdaq rising to a record high, as investors assessed

corporate earnings as well as crucial data showing the economy

maintained a steady pace of growth in the third quarter.

Shares of Alphabet, the first of the five

"Magnificent Seven" megacap stocks due to report results this

week, soared 5.4% after the company beat expectations for

third-quarter revenue and profit on strength in its cloud

business and YouTube ad sales.

However, chip stocks tumbled, weighed by dour forecasts from

Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and Qorvo ( QRVO ), which lost

9.6% and 27%, respectively.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was down 1%, while an index of chip

stocks fell 2.8%.

"The overall trend of AI is intact, but people are

coming to the realization that the hardware piece is going to be

a lot harder to make money in, so they're taking some of the

gains and using these imperfect earnings as an excuse to

reposition things into the software space," said Jamie Cox,

managing partner for Harris Financial Group.

"Alphabet is going to absolutely dominate in this

environment, and it's showing."

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 GDP and ADP reports are consistent with the Fed

making another interest-rate cut at their post-election decision

next week, but a smaller quarter-percentage-point one," said

Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank.

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.

Traders anticipate a 25-basis-point rate cut in the Federal

Reserve's November and December meetings.

Megacaps Microsoft and Meta Platforms ( META )

rose 1.1% each, with both companies scheduled to report after

the bell.

Given the significant role they played in Wall Street's

rally this year, megacaps will be the most closely watched in an

earnings-packed week. Their results are expected to provide

insight into whether heavy AI investment is translating into

better company performances.

Visa leapt 3.9% to a record high, lifting the Dow,

after its fourth-quarter

profit

beat estimates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213.91 points,

or 0.51%, to 42,446.96, the S&P 500 gained 16.74 points,

or 0.29%, to 5,849.66 and the Nasdaq Composite gained

44.68 points, or 0.24%, to 18,756.66.

The Information Technology sector was the

biggest sectoral decliner, while Alphabet's gains lifted

Communication Services to an all-time high.

Meanwhile, shares of Super Micro Computer ( SMCI )

plunged 32.8% after Ernst & Young

resigned

as the company's accountant.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) lost 6.6% after missing sales

estimates for its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.9-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and three new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 110 new highs and 73

new lows.