Aug 6 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged higher on Wednesday, buoyed by a new round of corporate earnings, while lingering hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut rates kept markets alive.
At 9:37 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), rose 2.89 points, or 0.01%, to 44,114.63, the S&P 500 (.SPX), gained 7.58 points, or 0.12%, to 6,306.64 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), rose 43.34 points, or 0.21%, to 20,959.89.
McDonald's was 1.8% higher after the fast-food giant's affordable menu drove global sales past expectations.
Arista Networks (ANET.N), soared 13.6% as the cloud networking company projected quarterly revenue above analyst estimates.
Global Payments (GPN.N), also advanced 7.5% after topping second-quarter profit forecasts, while Match Group (MTCH.O), opens new tab, the parent of Tinder, jumped 11.3% after surpassing revenue expectations for the same quarter.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O), rose 2.8% after a White House official said the company will announce a domestic manufacturing pledge of $100 billion.
Bucking the trend, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), tumbled 6.4% as its data center chip revenue disappointed. Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O), plunged 16% after missing fourth-quarter sales estimates, dragging rival Dell down 1.9%.
Walt Disney (DIS.N), delivered a strong quarter and lifted its full-year outlook, but its shares slipped 4.6%.
Airbnb , DoorDash (DASH.O), and Lyft (LYFT.O), will report their results after the market closes.
"The market's waiting for the next bullish catalyst. It's digesting a lot of earnings, but it really wants to see what's going to happen with tariffs," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments.
Meanwhile, Tuesday's data showed U.S. services sector activity unexpectedly stalled in July, highlighting the Trump administration's tariff-related strain on businesses.
The setback followed last week's troubling jobs report, which showed slowing employment growth and downward revisions for previous months - fueling concerns about a weakening labor market.
As a result, traders are now betting heavily on a September Fed rate cut, with odds soaring to 89.4% from just 46.7% last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Traders also bet on at least two cuts by the end of 2025.
Trump's tariff threats showed no signs of easing. The president on Tuesday said he would impose a "small tariff" on pharmaceutical imports before hiking it to triple-digit percentage in a year or two.
Trump also announced plans for new levies on semiconductors and chips in the "next week or so."
Adding to the uncertainty, Trump will decide on a nominee to replace outgoing Fed Governor Adriana Kugler by the end of the week, while saying he has narrowed the possible replacements for Fed Chair Jerome Powell to a short list of four.
Meanwhile, the Fed's Neel Kashkari said on CNBC that the central bank needs to act to a slowing economy, but warned that a rise in inflation - possibly triggered by tariffs - could prompt the Fed to hit pause or even consider a hike.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.26-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.24-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 46 new lows.
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel
