(Updates prices to midafternoon, adds analyst comments, market

details)

* Indexes up: Dow 0.72%, S&P 500 0.88%, Nasdaq 1.39%

* 3M ( MMM ) shares rally after company boosts annual profit

forecast

* Danaher ( DHR ) falls after cutting annual core revenue growth

forecast

* US imposes new 50% tariffs on Canadian imports

By Sinéad Carew and Ragini Mathur

July 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on

Tuesday, as a steep rally in semiconductor shares helped shift

the focus away from the latest Middle East hostilities and

tariff battles, while investors looked ahead to major technology

earnings reports for clues on the future of the AI trade.

Gains in recently battered semiconductor stocks provided

huge support for the main U.S. stock indexes and the

Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index climbed 5.5%. The

latter is on track for its second consecutive advance after

ending Friday more than 20% below its late-June record high,

confirming a bear-market decline.

"Investors are really buying back in to the semis ahead of

earnings because they have fear of missing out (FOMO), that

these companies could report outsized earnings beats and

increase their outlooks and they don't own as much as they did

before the most recent pullback," said Lindsey Bell, chief

investment strategist at 248 Ventures in Charlotte, North

Carolina.

But Bell cautioned that when stocks rally sharply ahead of

earnings, "it makes it more difficult for them to run in

response to earnings."

"The numbers are going to be really good but the stocks are

also priced for perfection," she said. The chip index dipped

last week as investors grew concerned about high valuations and

hefty investments on artificial intelligence. But even after

that drop, it is still up nearly 75% year to date.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 372.31 points,

or 0.72%, to 52,211.57, the S&P 500 gained 65.40 points,

or 0.88%, to 7,508.51 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 354.43 points, or 1.39%, to 25,862.50.

Among the benchmark's 11 major industry sectors, information

technology led the gains with a more than 2% rise. The

biggest decliner was consumer staples, down 0.9%.

Equity investors appeared to shrug off President Donald Trump's

unveiling of 50% tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada

on Monday.

They also looked past geopolitics even as oil prices rallied

more than 2%, hitting five-week highs. This was after two oil

tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red

Sea after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis threatened to impose a

blockade on commercial shipping there. Trump said the United

States would respond if the Houthis followed through.

"Investors see (the war) as transitory because we know two

things - that $100 oil is a pressure point for Trump, and we

also know that midterm elections are coming up," Bell said.

Meanwhile, their focus this week will turn to results from

Alphabet and chip makers Intel ( INTC ) and Texas

Instruments ( TXN ).

Among individual stocks, 3M ( MMM ) shares gained 6.8% after the

industrial giant lifted its full-year profit forecast. Hasbro ( HAS )

shares rallied 7.7% after it raised annual revenue and

profit forecasts, betting on demand for its digital gaming and

"Magic: The Gathering" products.

Danaher ( DHR ) shares sank 11.4% after the life sciences firm

trimmed its core revenue growth outlook and reported

weaker-than-expected revenue in its biotechnology business.

MSCI ( MSCI ) shares tumbled 9.9% after the index provider

raised its full-year operating expense forecast despite

better-than-expected quarterly revenue. Genuine Parts ( GPC )

shares dropped 3.8% after the auto parts distributor lowered its

full-year profit outlook.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.43-to-1 ratio

on the New York Stock Exchange, where there were 84 new highs

and 94 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 2,928 stocks rose and 1,790 fell

as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.64-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 103 new lows.