* Amazon, Alphabet jumps after reporting results 
    * Third-quarter GDP growth of 3.0 pct vs. est of 2.5 pct 
    * Expedia, Mattel plunge on earnings miss 
    * Indexes: Dow down 0.02 pct, S&P up 0.35 pct, Nasdaq 1.11 
pct 
 
 (Updates to open) 
    By Sruthi Shankar 
    Oct 27 (Reuters) - Gains in technology stocks powered by 
strong earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet lifted the 
Nasdaq and the S&P on Friday, but losses in Chevron and Merck 
kept the Dow in the red.  
    Microsoft  MSFT.O  advanced 6.20 percent after the world's 
largest software company reported further gains from its cloud 
computing services.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N16DF 
    Amazon  AMZN.O  jumped 8.26 percent and Google-parent 
Alphabet  GOOGL.O  gained 4.26 percent after 
results. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N16CO urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N16D2 
    The gains drove the S&P technology index  .SPLRCT  up about 
2 percent. The sector has gained about 30 percent this year, 
double the gains in the broader S&P index. 
    "Earnings is driving the positive sentiment at the open," 
said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. 
Petersburg, Florida. "Certainly a lot of enthusiasm for tech 
stocks that have reported." 
    As the third-quarter earnings season nears the halfway mark, 
74 percent of the S&P companies topped expectations as of 
Thursday, above the 72 percent beat rate for the past four 
quarters. 
    Adding to the positive sentiment was a data showed the U.S. 
economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth in the 
third-quarter, despite a hurricane-led drop in consumer spending 
and construction activities.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1MZ1UL 
    The Commerce Department said GDP increased at a 3.0 percent 
annual rate in the July-September period. Economists polled by 
Reuters had forecast a 2.5 percent growth. 
    At 9:33 a.m. ET (133 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average 
 .DJI  was down 5.65 points, or 0.02 percent, at 23,395.21, the 
S&P 500  .SPX  was up 8.85 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,569.25 
and the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  was up 72.96 points, or 1.11 
percent, at 6,629.73. 
    Energy stocks weighed on the S&P and the Dow. Chevron 
 CVX.N  dipped 3.8 percent and Exxon  XOM.N  fell 1.6 percent 
after reporting results. 
    Merck  MRK.N  slipped 3.5 percent after the company reported 
a fall in revenue due to a cyber attack and loss of market share 
for many of its older drugs.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N24B1 
    Mattel  MAT.O  plunged about 17 percent after the toymaker 
said it would miss its full-year revenue forecast and stop 
dividend from the fourth quarter.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N16DS 
    Expedia  EXPE.O  was slumped 20 percent after the online 
travel services company's profit missed Wall Street's consensus 
forecast.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N12KY 
    Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,217 
to 1,180. On the Nasdaq, 1,247 issues rose and 952 fell.  
 
 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun 
Koyyur) 
 ((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 
8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6328; Reuters Messaging: 
sruthi.shankar.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: USA STOCKS/