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Tesla jumps after strong sales forecast

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UPS advances following quarterly profit beat

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Boeing ( BA ) down after workers reject latest contract

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Weekly jobless claims lower than forecasts

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Indexes: Dow down 0.37%, S&P 500 up 0.16%, Nasdaq up 0.64%

(Updated at 2:12pm ET/6:12pm GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Purvi Agarwal and Carolina Mandl

Oct 24 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gained on

Thursday, driven by Tesla's positive earnings forecast and a

decline in Treasury yields from a three-month high, which buoyed

market sentiment despite declines from some corporate results.

Shares of Tesla soared 20.85%, with the EV-maker set to add

more than $100 billion to its market capitalization, after it

reported robust third-quarter profits and surprised investors

with a prediction of 20% to 30% sales growth next year.

This helped take the Consumer Discretionary sector

3.11% higher.

However, sentiment was shaky elsewhere. Most of the S&P

sectors were in the red, as other earnings reports and pressure

from still high Treasury yields weighed.

"We've got pretty divergent performance between sectors and

companies and that really is a function of being a third of the

way through their earning season," Bill Northey, senior

investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "That has

really been a mixed bag."

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note

eased on the day, at 4.18%, after reaching a three-month high

the day before. It went as high as 4.26% in Wednesday's session,

which saw all three major equity indexes lose ground.

Other megacap growth stocks reversed early gains, with

Nvidia ( NVDA ) flat and Apple ( AAPL ) losing 0.2%.

IBM ( IBM ) lost 6.81% after missing third-quarter revenue

estimates, while Honeywell's ( HON ) 4.5% decline after it

forecast annual sales below estimates also weighed on the

blue-chip Dow.

At 02:12 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell

158.96 points, or 0.37%, to 42,355.99, the S&P 500 gained

9.31 points, or 0.16%, to 5,806.73 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 116.54 points, or 0.64%, to 18,393.20.

Materials dropped 1.5%, dragged down by Newmont ( NEM )

as higher costs and weaker Nevada output saw it miss

profit estimates.

Boeing ( BA ) also lost 1.64% after factory workers voted on

Wednesday to reject a contract offer and continue a more than

five-week-long strike.

Stocks have eased from record levels over the past few

sessions due to a reassessment of bets on the Federal Reserve's

rate cuts, rising Treasury yields, corporate earnings and

uncertainty surrounding the upcoming U.S. election.

The pullback, however, was to be expected, Dennis Dick,

trader at Triple D Trading said. "The story is still in tech,

and that story is not going away, I would still say dips in tech

need to be bought."

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) lost 6.52% after earnings and

after the company reached an agreement with activist investor

Elliott Investment Management.

On a brighter note, UPS added 4.5% after the parcel

service provider reported a rise in third-quarter profit, on

rebounding volumes and cost cuts.

Of the 159 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported

results this earnings season, 78.6% have beaten analyst

expectations, according to data compiled by LSEG.

On the economic front, S&P Global's flash PMI data showed

U.S. business activity increased in October, amid strong demand.

Weekly jobless claims also fell unexpectedly for the week ended

Oct. 19.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.06-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 113 new highs and 45 new lows on the

NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and 75 new lows.