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UnitedHealth ( UNH ) falls after Q3 results

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Banks broadly gain after results

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Boeing ( BA ) up after it lines up $35 bln in funds

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Indexes: Dow down 0.52%, S&P 500 up 0.08%, Nasdaq up 0.19%

(Updated at 9:49 a.m. ET/1349 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Oct 15 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged higher while the Dow

dropped on Tuesday, with the benchmark index hovering near

record highs as investors parsed a mixed set of quarterly

results from companies such as UnitedHealth ( UNH ) and Bank of America ( BAC ).

At 09:49 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 222.22 points, or 0.52%, to 42,843.00, the S&P 500

gained 4.97 points, or 0.08%, to 5,864.82 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 34.53 points, or 0.19%, to 18,537.21.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors trended upwards, with

Financials among top gainers with a 0.6% rise, after

several major banks reported results, adding to optimism after a

set of positive earnings from institutions including JPMorgan

Chase ( JPM ) last week.

Bank of America ( BAC ) jumped 2.2% following a

third-quarter

profit

beat, while Charles Schwab ( SCHW ) soared 7.8% after

beating estimates. The broader Banks index was trading

at its highest level in more than two years.

However, Citigroup ( C/PN ) slipped 1.5% after its results,

while Goldman Sachs ( GS ) dipped 0.4%, both reversing premarket

gains.

"The financial sector (is) experiencing upward revisions

to third-quarter earnings estimates, but it's going from a low

single digit gain to a mid-single digit gain - certainly not

knocking the ball out of the park," Stovall said.

Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow opened at a record high but

quickly fell, weighed down by an 8.8% slump in health insurer

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) after the company reported a surge in

medical costs in the third quarter.

Energy stocks were down, with Exxon Mobil ( XOM )

losing 3.1% and Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) shedding

3.4%, as crude prices dropped 4%.

Growth stocks were broadly mixed, with AI-darling Nvidia ( NVDA )

falling 1.6% following a record high close on Monday,

after a report the U.S. is considering limiting exports of

advanced artificial intelligence chips from the company and

other U.S. peers to some countries. Apple ( AAPL ) jumped 2.5%.

"Nothing has really happened just yet to offer any good

guidance for investors," said Sam Stovall, chief investment

strategist at CFRA Research.

A number of S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report

results through the week. The large ones will have to justify

their expensive stock valuations, particularly in the tech

sector, where valuations have grown increasingly inflated in the

past year.

Boeing ( BA ) rose 0.4% after the planemaker filed to

raise up to $25 billion through a stock and debt offering and

entered into a $10 billion credit agreement amid a crippling

strike and upcoming debt maturities.

Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA ) soared 13.6% after

narrowly beating Wall Street's lowered estimates for

fourth-quarter adjusted profit.

Traders are pricing in about an 88% chance the Fed will

cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November and a slight

probability it will leave rates unchanged, according to CME's

FedWatch.

Speeches from Federal Reserve officials Adriana Kugler,

Mary Daly and Raphael Bostic are also on deck, while economic

data including the monthly retail sales figures is due on

Thursday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.48-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 81 new 52-week highs and no new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and 20 new

lows.