US STOCKS-Wall Street set for weekly gains with trade progress, earnings in focus

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks mixed on Friday but remained on track for weekly gains as investors parsed a spate of earnings and signs of easing tensions in the U.S.-China trade dispute.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to add a fourth consecutive session to their respective rallies, bolstered by gains in the "magnificent seven" group of artificial intelligence-related megacaps, while the blue-chip Dow was more muted.

Beijing exempted some U.S. imports from its 125% tariffs but denied Trump's negotiation claims, on the heels of recent de-escalatory statements from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in the latest sign that the world's two largest economies are dialing back their trade war tensions, which have rattled markets for weeks.

"At this point, investors kind of settled into the mindset of what the tariffs will be," Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, in New York. "And they know that President Trump pays attention to both the equity and fixed income markets."

"There's a limit to where he's willing to go, regardless of what he says," Pursche added. "And that's reassuring."

First-quarter earnings season has hit full-stride, with 179 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 73% have beaten expectations, according to LSEG.

Analysts now see aggregate S&P 500 earnings for the January to March period of 9.7% year-on-year, sunnier than the 8.0% estimate as it stood on April 1, per LSEG.

But investors are largely looking past results and parsing forward guidance, particularly lowered or pulled projection due to economic uncertainties and dampening consumer spending.

The University of Michigan released its final take on April consumer sentiment, and while the index was upwardly revised, it was still at the lowest level since July 2022 and inflation expectations remained hot.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 106.25 points, or 0.27%, to 39,984.97, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 19.87 points, or 0.36%, to 5,504.47 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 143.19 points, or 0.83%, to 17,309.24.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and tech .SPLRCT led the gainers, while materials .SPLRCM suffered the largest percentage loss.

Alphabet GOOGL.O shares advanced 1.6% after the Google parent posted a 28% jump in Google Cloud revenue and assured investors that its AI investments are paying off.

Intel INTC.O provided weak revenue and profit forecasts, sending the chipmaker's stock down 7.3%.

Shares of oilfield services provider SLB SLB.N dipped 1.6% after the company missed first-quarter profit estimates and warned of a potential industry-wide shift due to economic uncertainty and tariff risks.

Charter Communications CHTR.O leapt 10.4% after the broadband and cable company beat revenue estimates and added more subscribers than expected.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 45 new highs and 19 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,895 stocks rose and 2,387 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.26-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 4 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 41 new lows.