* Apple, Starbucks lift Nasdaq on solid profits
* Bank results spur some caution; home builders soar
* Dow off 0.4 pct; S&P 500 off 0.1 pct; Nasdaq up 0.5 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates to close)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple
Inc <AAPL.O> and Starbucks Corp <SBUX.O>, while disappointing
bank results and declining energy shares weighed on the
broader market.
The Dow Jones industrial average declined, halting a
seven-day winning streak, as investors sold some of the
market's recent winners to take profits, and the S&P 500 index
ended near break-even.
Apple, up 3.5 percent at $156.74, gave the top boost to
the Nasdaq a day after the iPod and iPhone maker reported a
quarterly profit that beat forecasts. Starbucks, up 18.4
percent at $17.39, ranked as the Nasdaq's second-biggest
gainer, after its quarterly profit also beat estimates.
Their advance helped extend the Nasdaq's winning streak --
now the longest such stretch since September 1996. Technology
bellwether Apple and coffee chain Starbucks are among stocks
that investors use as barometers of consumer spending trends.
Strong profits from NVR Inc <NVR.N> sparked a run-up in
home builders' stocks. The Dow Jones U.S. home construction
index <.DJUSHB> shot up 5.2 percent. NVR's stock jumped 5.4
percent to $584.17.
"Today's action is a relative positive in that you had
some earnings come out that were good, but we are actually
near the top of the range," said Richard Sparks, senior
equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in
Cincinnati.
"There's a kind of a pause until we get more news on both
the earnings and the economic front."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> shed 34.68 points,
or 0.39 percent, to 8,881.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> dipped just 0.51 of a point, or 0.05 percent, to
954.07. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <> gained 10.18
points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,926.38.
The S&P 500 briefly hit a 2009 intraday high of 959.83.
But both the S&P and the Dow industrials were reined by
disappointing results from banks, including Wells Fargo & Co
<WFC.N, down 3.6 percent at $24.45.
Bank of New York Mellon <BK.N> slid 6.2 percent to $27.32
after the world's largest trust bank posted a 43 percent drop
in second-quarter profit.
Profit-taking in some of the market's recent winners,
including Coca-Cola Co <KO.N>, down 2.4 percent at $49.13,
also dragged on the broader market.
International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N> shed 1.3
percent to $115.57, while Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> slipped 2
percent to $38.66.
On the energy front, shares of Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N>
dropped 0.7 percent to $69.99 as oil prices retreated
slightly. The S&P energy index <.GSPE> slid 1 percent.
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> settled at $65.40 a barrel, down
21 cents, or 0.3 percent, on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
After the bell, Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> posted a smaller
quarterly profit as demand weakened for its wireless chips
because of slowing cellphone sales. But the company raised its
revenue target for 2009, citing strong fundamentals.
Qualcomm's stock, which had risen sharply in the last
week, fell 4 percent after the news in extended trading.
[] Qualcomm shares ended regular Nasdaq trading
at $48.45, up 1 percent before the quarterly results.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated in
testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday that
the U.S. economic outlook is improving, but that supportive
policies would be necessary for a while to prevent rising
joblessness from sapping the recovery.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
