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* Caterpillar drops after lowering profit forecast
* Texas Instruments leads declines among chip stocks
* Boston Scientific, Thermo Fisher rise on upbeat profits
* Futures: Dow flat, S&P 500 off 0.08%, Nasdaq up 0.07%
(Updates market action, adds comments)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Oct 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street headed for a flat open on
Wednesday, after earnings from industrial bellwether Caterpillar
and chip major Texas Instruments kept investors on edge over the
fallout from the U.S.-China trade war.
Texas Instruments TXN.O fell 8% premarket after the trade
tensions took a toll on the chip industry proxy's
current-quarter revenue forecast, while Caterpillar Inc CAT.N
dipped after the company cut its annual profit forecast on
slowing China demand. Texas Instruments weighed on other chipmakers, with Intel
Corp INTC.O , Analog Devices Inc ADI.O and Nvidia Corp
NVDA.O down between 1% and 2%.
"What I think is causing the hesitation is the fear of other
bellwether companies also disappointing," said Andre Bakhos,
managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New
Jersey.
Investors are now waiting for results from big tech firms,
which make up the largest swath of the U.S. stock market.
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O is scheduled to report after markets
close on Wednesday.
"A name like Microsoft could counter a McDonald's and
investors' mindsets could be brought back on track while we wait
for trade and continual monitoring of the economic cycle,"
Bakhos added.
Boeing Co BA.N rose 1.3%, as the world's largest
planemaker did not report any new charges related to its
grounded 737 MAX jets, despite quarterly profit more than
halving from a year earlier. The earnings season has largely been upbeat, with over 80 of
the 100 companies topping analysts' estimates for profit,
according to Refinitiv data. But analysts still project the
first earnings contraction since 2016.
At 8:42 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 7 points, or
0.03%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 2.25 points, or 0.08%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 5.5 points, or 0.07%.
The S&P 500 .SPX is hovering near its record high on signs
of progress in trade talks between the world's top two
economies.
A handful of healthcare companies with low exposure to China
rose on strong results. Drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals
ALXN.O gained 1.5% after raising full-year forecast.
Medical device makers Boston Scientific Corp BSX.N and
Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO.N gained 3% each as quarterly
profits beat estimates.
However, Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N fell 3% after the
drugmaker missed third-quarter revenue estimates. Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O dropped 1.6%
after JPMorgan downgraded the drugstore chain's stock to
"neutral" from "overweight".