(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

        *

      Netflix falls after dour Q2 forecast

        *

      Paramount up on likely buyout bid from Sony, Apollo  

        *

      Indexes: Dow up 0.48%, S&P up 0.05%, Nasdaq down 0.35%

(Updated at 9:55 a.m. ET/1355 GMT)

    By Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi  Achar A

       April 19 (Reuters) -

    The Dow and the S&P 500 edged higher on Friday on gains in

American Express after upbeat earnings and as initial jitters

about an escalation in the Middle East conflict subsided, while

Netflix weighed on the Nasdaq following its dour forecast.

    Netflix NFLX.O slumped 6.6% following the streaming video

pioneer's lackluster second-quarter forecast.

        "(Netflix) also noted that it would stop reporting

subscriber numbers next year, which was taken as a sign that the

current strength of customer growth could now be peaking," said

Richard Hunter, head of markets at online investment platform

interactive investor.

        "In order to maintain heightened valuation levels,

attention has turned to the quarterly reporting season with high

expectations for companies which are reporting."

    Cushioning the blue-chip Dow, American Express AXP.N added

3.2% after the credit card lender's first-quarter profit

surpassed Wall Street estimates.

    Meanwhile, explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday

in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran

played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for

retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting a

region-wide war.

    Equities were rattled this week as investors readjusted

their expectations over by how much the Fed would cut rates this

year, with both the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow .DJI poised

for a third weekly decline, while the Nasdaq was set for its

fourth consecutive weekly loss, if current trend holds.

    Federal Reserve policymakers have coalesced around the idea

of keeping borrowing costs where they are until perhaps well

into the year, given slow and bumpy progress on inflation, and a

still-strong U.S. economy.

    Money markets are now pricing in about 39 basis points (bps)

of cuts from the central bank this year, down from around 150

bps seen at the beginning of 2024, according to LSEG data.

    U.S. stocks suffered an outflow of $4.1 billion in the

latest week, according to Bank of America's weekly 'Flow Show'

report, their largest two-week outflow since December 2022.

    The CBOE Volatility index .VIX, also known as Wall

Street's "fear gauge", was last up 0.30 points at 18.30, after

breaching the psychologically important level of 20 earlier in

the session.

    At 9:55 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was

up 182.74 points, or 0.48%, at 37,958.12, the S&P 500 .SPX was

up 2.50 points, or 0.05%, at 5,013.62, and the Nasdaq Composite

.IXIC was down 54.49 points, or 0.35%, at 15,547.01.

        Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded higher, with

energy .SPNY stocks leading gains with a 1.1% advance, while

communication services .SPLRCL dropped 1.0% to lead declines.

    Shares of Paramount Global PARA.O jumped 9.9% after a

person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Sony 6758.T

Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management APO.N are

discussing making a joint bid for the company.

    Procter & Gamble PG.N slipped 1.9% after the consumer

goods giant missed third-quarter net sales estimates.

    Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.42-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE by a 1.71-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

    The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and four new

lows, while the Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and 90 new lows.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A in

Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Maju Samuel)

((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;

Shristi.AcharA@thomsonreuters.com

https://twitter.com/ShristiAchar;))