US stocks closed mixed with the Dow out front on Tuesday, as a string of solid earnings lured investors to industrials and capital goods.

The S&P 500 was essentially unchanged at the closing bell, while weakness in growth and microchip stocks pulled the tech-laden Nasdaq to a nominally lower close.

"We're at a little bit of a point of indecision, where nobody feels particularly strongly about anything," said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia.

"That reflects itself in reduced reaction to earnings surprise."

Third-quarter earnings season has shifted into overdrive, with corporate giants such as General Motors, GE Aerospace, 3M and Coca-Cola posting generally upbeat results.

But with major US stock indexes hovering near record highs and valuations stretched, upbeat results alone could prove insufficient to sustain investor risk appetite.

"The earnings are better than expected as companies continue to gain slightly in terms of margins, which suggests that (companies) have to be passing through the tariffs or pushing the tariffs back onto the importers," Green said, adding "nothing is jumping out today to say that there's a strong opinion being expressed anywhere."

General Motors lifted its forecast and tempered its anticipated tariff hit. The automaker's shares jumped 14.9 percent. Coca-Cola shares gained 4.1 percent after solid consumer demand drove its better-than-expected results, while diversified manufacturer 3M advanced 7.7 percent after hiking its full-year forecast, bolstered by its focus on higher margin products and cost controls.

Aerospace and defense companies Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and RTX all raised their forecasts, benefiting from solid demand for war machinery.

Netflix dropped 5.8 percent in extended trading after the streaming company missed earnings targets.

So far, 78 of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported. Of those, 87 percent have beaten Wall Street expectations. High-profile results from Tesla, IBM, Procter & Gamble and Intel are also on tap this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 218 points, or 0.5 percent, to 46,924, the S&P 500 gained 0.2 points to 6,735 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 36 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,953.

Shares of Warner Brothers Discovery surged after the company announced it is considering an outright sale, citing interest from several potential buyers, in the latest media shakeup.

Late in the session, the board rejected an offer from Paramount Skydance. The company's stock surged 11 percent. (Reuters)