US STOCKS-Nasdaq snaps 12-day run; Dow, S&P 500 eke out gains

                                
  
                                
 * Microsoft, Amazon hit Nasdaq after revenue misses
                                
 * Pharmaceutical, energy shares lift Dow, S&P 500
                                
 * Dow, S&P 500 up 0.3 pct; Nasdaq off 0.4 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to close)
                                
 By Ellis Mnyandu
                                
 NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq fell on Friday,
halting a 12-day run-up, following Microsoft Corp's <MSFT.O>
disappointing quarterly results, but gains in pharmaceutical
and energy shares lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to fresh
8-month closing highs.
                                
 Microsoft shares slid 8.3 percent to $23.45, a day after
the software maker posted quarterly revenue below Wall
Street's estimates. Web retailer Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> also
missed sales expectations, sending its stock down 7.9 percent
to $86.49.
                                
 The results cast a cloud over what is so far shaping up to
be a stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings season.
                                
 Even so, investors took Wall Street's initial drop on
Friday as an opportunity to scoop up shares in other sectors,
including energy and defensive plays such as big
pharmaceuticals and utilities.
                                
 "Microsoft is going through a product transition and no
great visibility on the Windows franchise, but in general, the
tone this quarter for a good many companies has been strong,"
said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. equity group at
Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York.
                                
 "We are not probably going to see a major shift here in
the negative direction, so it's probably going to be overall
positive for earnings season."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 23.95 points,
or 0.26 percent, to 9,093.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> advanced 2.97 points, or 0.30 percent, to 979.26. But
the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> shed 7.64 points, or 0.39
percent, to 1,965.96.
                                
 Microsoft was the top drag on both the Dow and the Nasdaq.
 Amazon.com was the Nasdaq's second-worst performer.
                                
 The Nasdaq's 12-day winning streak was its longest
unbroken run since 1992.
                                
 All three major U.S. stock indexes scored a second
straight weekly advance, with the Dow rising 4 percent, the
S&P 500 gaining 4.1 percent and the Nasdaq climbing 4.2
percent.
                                
 For the day, both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit their
highest closes since early November 2008.
                                
 The broad market's gains were curbed by a report showing
U.S. consumer sentiment waned in late July to its lowest
reading since April, according to the Reuters/University of
Michigan Surveys of Consumers. [ID:nN24449821]
                                
 Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> , up 2.1 percent at $61.51,
provided the top boost to the Dow, followed by Merck & Co
<MRK.N>, up 2.5 percent at $30.99. The AMEX Pharmaceuticals
index <.DRG> rose 1.4 percent.
                                
 Chevron Corp <CVX.N> climbed 0.8 percent to $68.43 after
U.S. front-month crude oil <CLc1> gained 89 cents, or 1.3
percent, to settle at $68.05 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. The S&P energy index <.GSPE> rose 1
percent.
                                
 In other earnings-related news, tool manufacturer Black
and Decker Corp <BDK.N> raised its full-year profit view,
sending its shares up 10.1 percent to $37.13.
 (Editing by Jan Paschal)