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PepsiCo ( PEP ), Estee lauder fall after weak earnings forecasts

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Palantir ( PLTR ) jumps on upbeat revenue outlook

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Indexes up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 500 0.6%, Nasdaq 1.16%

(Updates with mid-afternoon US trading)

By Abigail Summerville and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 4 (Reuters) - The three major stock indexes climbed

on Tuesday, aided by energy stocks, while investors saw reason

for optimism for a trade breakthrough between the U.S. and China

after President Donald Trump delayed tariffs for Canada and

Mexico.

New 10% U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports took effect on

Tuesday, which China countered with levies on U.S. goods. It was

unclear when the country's leaders would talk.

Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded higher, with energy

stocks leading the gains with a 1.9% rise, paring

earlier losses.

Trump had said over the weekend he would impose a 25% tariff

on goods from Mexico and Canada, but agreed to a 30-day pause on

Monday, in return for border and crime concessions from both

countries.

"The president was so quick to offer a 30-day stay of

execution to Mexico and Canada, so you get the idea that maybe

what he's really trying to do is embrace a quick declaration of

victory which doesn't change much from a trade perspective,"

said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

"Investors have been breathing a sigh of relief today and

we'll see if a month from now they can continue to breathe that

sigh of relief."

Alphabet was up 1.8% ahead of its quarterly

results, which are due after markets close, while Nvidia ( NVDA )

advanced 2.6%.

Palantir ( PLTR ) jumped 23.2% after the data analytics

company forecast first-quarter and annual revenue above Wall

Street estimates.

At 2:05 p.m. EST (1905 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 84.79 points, or 0.19%, to 44,506.70, the S&P 500

gained 36.26 points, or 0.60%, to 6,030.83 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 224.93 points, or 1.16%, to 19,616.88.

Biotechnology firm Illumina ( ILMN ) dropped 6%, while PVH

Corp ( PVH ), the holding company for brands including Calvin

Klein, slipped 0.7% after China placed the companies on its

"unreliable entity list".

Trump's delayed tariffs for Canada and Mexico helped the

three major U.S. stock indexes pare some of the heavy losses

suffered earlier on Monday and close trading well off session

lows.

Three Federal Reserve officials warned on Monday that trade

tariffs carried inflation risks, with one arguing that

uncertainty over the outlook for prices called for slower

interest-rate cuts than otherwise.

A Labor Department report showed U.S. job openings stood at

7.6 million in December, compared to an estimated 8 million,

according to economists polled by Reuters.

In earnings-driven moves, PepsiCo ( PEP ) fell 4.5% after it

forecast annual profit below expectations and missed quarterly

revenue estimates.

Estee Lauder ( EL ) plummeted 14.8% after the cosmetics

company posted another weak quarter amid demand weakness and

announced job cuts.

Merck ( MRK ) dropped 10% after the drugmaker said it would

pause shipments of Gardasil to China through at least mid-year,

as continued weak demand for the HPV vaccine there is expected

to hurt the company's 2025 revenues.

PayPal ( PYPL ) fell 11.9% after the digital payments

giant's operating margin shrank in the fourth quarter.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.44-to-1 ratio

on the New York Stock Exchange, and by a 2.06-to-1 ratio on the

Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 61 new highs and 109 new

lows.