S&P, Nasdaq lifted by strong earnings from Netflix

By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - The S&P and the Nasdaq rose on Tuesday as upbeat earnings from Netflix spurred gains for the highly-valued technology sector, while the Dow came under pressure from declines in Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.

Netflix surged 11 percent to a record high of $257.71 and surpassed $100 billion in market value, after the video-streaming pioneer beat Wall Street targets for new subscribers in the fourth quarter.

The gains also boosted other FAANG stocks, led by Amazon's 1.9 percent gain.

Insurer Travelers was the biggest gainer on the Dow, rising 3.8 percent after the company's profit topped estimates.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday approved steep import tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, a move that was criticized by China, South Korea and Europe and stoked fears about a potential retaliation.

"We just had the IMF increase the estimate for global economic growth and they called it widespread. But we need low barriers to trade for all of this to work," said Mariann Montagne, senior investment analyst and portfolio manager at Gradient Investments.

Shares of Whirlpool rose 2.6 percent and solar companies such as Real Goods Solar, Sunworks and First Solar climbed following the new tariffs.

At 10:54 a.m. ET (1554 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.83 points, or 0.03 percent, at 26,222.43 and the S&P 500 was up 5.8 points, or 0.20 percent, at 2,838.77.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 41.87 points, or 0.57 percent, at 7,449.90.

Verizon was up marginally following a quarterly revenue that beat estimates.

Johnson & Johnson fell 2.2 percent after a U.S. appeals court upheld a ruling that invalidated a crucial patent on its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade, limiting its ability to seek damages from Pfizer over its launch of a lower-cost version of the drug.

Procter & Gamble dropped about 3 percent as investors focused on a drop in gross margins at the world's largest consumer goods maker.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,399 to 1,359. On the Nasdaq, 1,507 issues fell and 1,248 advanced.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)