* Sterling down but well off session lows
* Tesla shares jump, Microsoft gains
(Adds UK prime minister calling for an election)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The pound was weaker but pared losses against the dollar on Thursday in the wake of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's call for a Dec. 12 election to break the country's deadlock over its planned exit from the European Union, while global stock markets edged up.
Johnson said in a letter to opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn he would give Parliament more time to approve his Brexit deal but that lawmakers must back a December election. GBP= was last trading at $1.2848, down 0.53% on the day, well off its lows of the session.
EU member states on Wednesday delayed a decision on whether to grant Britain a three-month Brexit extension. were flat to higher, with upbeat earnings from Microsoft https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-set-to-open-higher-on-microsoft-tesla-results-idUSKBN1X31IJ MSFT.O and Mercedes maker Daimler https://www.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-results/daimler-third-quarter-operating-profit-up-8-boosted-by-mercedes-sales-idUSKBN1X30GS DAIGn.DE offsetting disappointing results from Twitter TWTR.N and other companies.
"When earnings season began, the bar was set pretty low, and now a host of companies have reported and beaten expectations ... But I wouldn't say we are completely out of the woods," said Brian Yacktman, chief investment officer at YCG Fund in Austin, Texas.
The S&P 500 briefly moved lower after comments from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who accused China of curtailing "rights and liberties" in Hong Kong but also insisted that the United States does not seek confrontation or to "de-couple" from its main economic rival. latest estimate for third-quarter earnings for companies on the benchmark U.S. S&P 500 index improved slightly. Earnings are expected to have declined 2.3% year-over-year in the quarter versus an estimated decline of 2.9% on Wednesday, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Third-quarter earnings reports took center stage on Wall Street, with investors trying to gauge the fallout from a prolonged U.S.-China trade war, which has already shown up in the domestic economy.
Tesla https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-stock/tesla-shares-bonds-jump-after-surprise-third-quarter-profit-idUSKBN1X31NG TSLA.O shares rallied, a day after the company reported an unexpected third-quarter profit. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 57.59 points, or 0.21%, to 26,776.36, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 2.2 points, or 0.07%, to 3,006.72 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 51.21 points, or 0.63%, to 8,171.01.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.27%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.59%.
German companies, including Daimler, helped to boost Europe's indexes.
The euro EUR= was down 0.21% to $1.1106.
In commodities markets, U.S. crude CLcv1 rose 0.77% to $56.40 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $61.78, up 1% on the day.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 4/32 in price to yield 1.7467%, from 1.759% late on Wednesday.
https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 Asia-Pacific valuations
https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dr2BQA Inflation, unemployment during the Draghi era
https://tmsnrt.rs/2IXunV6
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