*

Coca-Cola's third-quarter results beat estimates, shares

rise

*

Aerospace stocks rise after Lockheed, Northrop, RTX

results

*

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) jumps after initiating strategic

review

(Updates to market close)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed mixed

with the Dow out front on Tuesday, as a string of solid earnings

lured investors to industrials and capital goods.

Weakness in growth and microchip stocks pulled the

tech-laden Nasdaq to a nominally lower close.

"We're at a little bit of a point of indecision, where

nobody feels particularly strongly about anything," said Michael

Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in

Philadelphia. "That reflects itself in reduced reaction to

earnings surprise."

Third-quarter earnings season has shifted into overdrive,

with corporate giants such as General Motors ( GM ), GE Aerospace, 3M ( MMM )

and Coca-Cola posting generally upbeat results. But with major

U.S. stock indexes hovering near record highs and valuations

stretched, upbeat results alone could prove insufficient to

sustain investor risk appetite.

"The earnings are better than expected as companies

continue to gain slightly in terms of margins, which suggests

that (companies) have to be passing through the tariffs or

pushing the tariffs back onto the importers," Green said, adding

"nothing is jumping out today that to say that there's a strong

opinion being expressed anywhere."

General Motors' ( GM ) stock surged after the carmaker lifted

its forecast and tempered its anticipated tariff hit.

Coca-Cola shares rose after solid consumer demand

drove its better-than-expected results, while diversified

manufacturer 3M ( MMM ) advanced after hiking its full-year

forecast, bolstered by its focus on higher margin products and

cost controls.

Aerospace and defense companies Lockheed Martin ( LMT ),

Northrop Grumman ( NOC ) and RTX all raised their

forecasts, benefiting from solid demand for war machinery.

So far, 78 of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported. Of

those, 87% have beaten Wall Street expectations. Analysts

currently foresee aggregate third-quarter S&P 500 earnings

growth of 9.2% year-on-year, more robust than their 8.8%

estimate as it stood on October 1, according to LSEG data.

High-profile results from Tesla, IBM ( IBM ),

Procter & Gamble ( PG ) and Intel ( INTC ) are also on tap this

week.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 0.34

points, or 0.01%, to end at 6,734.79 points, while the Nasdaq

Composite lost 36.54 points, or 0.17%, to 22,950.91. The

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 217.02 points, or

0.46%, to 46,923.60.

Shares of Warner Brothers Discovery surged after the

company announced it is considering an outright sale, citing

interest from several potential buyers, in the latest media

shakeup. Late in the session the board rejected an offer from

Paramount Skydance.

The government shutdown, now in its third week, has left

investors, economists and policymakers in the dark in the

absence of official data, complicating the efforts of the

data-dependent Federal Reserve.

Even so, the central bank will implement two more 25-basis-point

reductions to its key policy rate by year-end, according to a

Reuters poll of economists, who remain divided regarding the

Fed's path forward in 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump also struck a positive tone on

trade, saying he expects to reach a "fair deal" with Chinese

President Xi Jinping, while downplaying tensions over Taiwan.

Markets will keep an eye on Trump's upcoming meeting with Xi

on the sidelines of next week's economic summit in South Korea.