*

Ford, GM fall after tariff threats

*

Amgen ( AMGN ) falls as keenly awaited obesity drug data

disappoints

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Wells Fargo ( WFC ) up on report of likely lifting of asset cap

2025

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Fed minutes showed officials divided over interest rate

path

(Updates with preliminary market close)

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 26 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq

ended higher on Tuesday, as technology stocks rebounded, while

investors digested President-elect Donald Trump's tariff pledges

on top trade partners and the latest minutes from the Federal

Reserve.

U.S. short-term interest-rate futures pared earlier losses

after the Fed's latest minutes showed officials appeared divided

over how much further they may need to cut interest rates.

The minutes of the Nov. 6-7 meeting also showed the group

agreed this was a moment to avoid giving much concrete guidance

about how U.S. monetary policy is likely to evolve in the weeks

ahead.

"The minutes did nothing to alter my view that the policy

rate is going to be adjusted lower next week and will continue

to do so through the next calendar year," said Jamie Cox,

managing partner for Harris Financial Group.

Other analysts were more cautious.

Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist for Capital

Economics, noted that he still expects another 25 basis-point

cut, but cautioned such decisions are data-dependent and

therefore November's employment and inflation data will be

pivotal

In a development overnight, Trump said he would impose a

25% conditional tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports that

could violate a free-trade deal he negotiated during his

previous term. He also outlined "an additional 10% tariff, above

any additional tariffs" on imports from China, raising the risk

of trade wars.

Automakers Ford and General Motors ( GM ) both dropped

on the news as they have highly integrated supply chains across

Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

"The concern is that some products are going to become more

costly and that will mean revenue for those companies that are

possibly manufacturing those goods overseas is going to

decline," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota

Wealth.

"It's a lot of back-and-forth right now because investors

are trying to position themselves for January and the days after

and they're not really sure."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.74 points,

or 0.28%, to 44,860.31, the S&P 500 gained 34.23 points,

or 0.57%, to 6,021.60 and the Nasdaq Composite gained

119.46 points, or 0.63%, to 19,174.30.

Gains in megacaps such as Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL )

boosted the information technology sector and

the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) stood out among sluggish banking stocks,

gaining after Reuters reported, citing sources, that the bank is

in the last stages of a process to pass regulatory tests to lift

a $1.95 trillion asset cap next year after fixing problems from

its scandal over fake accounts.

The blue-chip Dow was weighed down by declines in Amgen ( AMGN )

, which slid after its experimental obesity drug fell

short of expectations.

The S&P 500 touched a record high on Monday and logged its

sixth-straight session of gains, while the Russell 2000

also scaled an all-time high after three years. On the day, the

small-cap index fell.

Among others, Eli Lilly rose after U.S. President Joe Biden

proposed expanding Medicare and Medicaid coverage for

anti-obesity drugs.

Best Buy ( BBY ) slumped and was among the top decliners on

the S&P 500 after trimming its annual profit and sales

forecasts.