Nasdaq slightly higher on likely megadeal in chip sector

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - A potential $103-billion megadeal in the chip sector lifted the tech-heavy Nasdaq on Monday but the S&P and the Dow Industrials remained flat.

Shares of Qualcomm rose 4.4 percent and was the biggest boost to the Nasdaq after Broadcom offered to buy the smartphone chip supplier in what could be the biggest merger in the tech sector. Broadcom rose 2.2 percent.

Advanced Micro Devices rose 7.3 percent on a report that it plans to team up with Intel to form a personal computer chip unit. Intel was up 0.5 percent.

Investors also kept an eye on President Trump's comments on North Korea's nuclear missile program and trade during his 12-day tour to Asia.

U.S. companies continue to report their quarterly earnings. With more than 400 of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings for the third quarter are expected to have climbed 8 percent, compared to an expectation of a 5.9 percent rise at the start of October, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Michael Kors was up 9.9 percent after the fashion accessories maker raised its 2017 revenue forecast.

"The third-quarter earnings season has given investors plenty of reason for optimism and with the global economy as a whole looking more healthy than it has in years, there's little reason to be pessimistic right now," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

At 9:40 a.m. ET (1340 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.43 points, or 0.01 percent, at 23,537.76, the S&P 500 was up 0.05 points, or 0.001 percent, at 2,587.89 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 12.42 points, or 0.18 percent, at 6,776.86.

Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the energy index's 0.42 percent rose on higher oil prices.

Crude oil prices rose to a more than two-year high after Saudi Arabia's future king tightened his grip on power by arresting royals, ministers and investors, including billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal. [O/R]

The news stirred concerns of Middle Eastern money pulling out of global financial markets. Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of the king and owner of investment firm Kingdom Holding, has stakes in Citigroup and Twitter, among others.

On Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said William Dudley, one of the most influential monetary policymakers, would retire in mid-2018.

Dudley's early retirement raises question over the leadership at the U.S. central bank less than a week after Trump tapped Fed Governor Jerome Powell to succeed current Fed Chair Janet Yellen in February.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,360 to 1,166. On the Nasdaq, 1,333 issues rose and 1,095 fell.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Arun Koyyur)