Recasts with preliminary close of trading

By Sinéad Carew and Ragini Mathur

July 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Tuesday, as a steep rally in semiconductor shares helped shift the focus away from the latest Middle East hostilities and tariff battles, while investors looked ahead to major technology earnings reports for clues on the future of the AI trade.

Gains in recently battered semiconductor stocks provided huge support for the main U.S. stock indexes and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index .SOX rallied sharply in its second consecutive advance after ending Friday more than 20% below its late-June record high.

"Investors are really buying back in to the semis ahead of earnings because they have fear of missing out (FOMO), that these companies could report outsized earnings beats and increase their outlooks and they don't own as much as they did before the most recent pullback," said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at 248 Ventures in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But Bell cautioned that when stocks rally sharply ahead of earnings, "it makes it more difficult for them to run in response to earnings."

"The numbers are going to be really good, but the stocks are also priced for perfection," she said. The chip index dipped last week as investors grew concerned about high valuations and hefty investments on artificial intelligence. But even after that drop, it is still up nearly 75% year-to-date.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 64.04 points, or 0.86%, to end at 7,507.32 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 321.53 points, or 1.26%, to 25,829.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 384.46 points, or 0.74%, to 52,223.72.

Among the benchmark's 11 major industry sectors, information technology .SPLRCT led the gains during the session while consumer staples .SPLRCS stocks lagged.

Equity investors appeared to shrug off President Donald Trump's unveiling of 50% tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada on Monday.

They also looked past geopolitics even as oil prices settled up 2% after hitting five-week highs. This was after two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis threatened to impose a blockade on commercial shipping there. Trump said the United States would respond if the Houthis followed through.

"Investors see (the war) as transitory because we know two things — that $100 oil is a pressure point for Trump, and we also know that midterm elections are coming up," Bell said.

Meanwhile, their focus this week will turn to results from Alphabet GOOGL.O and chipmakers Intel INTC.O and Texas Instruments TXN.O.

Among individual stocks, 3M MMM.N shares rallied after the industrial giant lifted its full-year profit forecast. Hasbro HAS.O stock climbed sharply after it raised annual revenue and profit forecasts, betting on demand for its digital gaming and "Magic: The Gathering" products.

Danaher DHR.N shares sank after the life sciences firm trimmed its core revenue growth outlook and reported weaker-than-expected revenue in its biotechnology business.

MSCI MSCI.N shares tumbled after the index provider raised its full-year operating expense forecast despite better-than-expected quarterly revenue. And Genuine Parts GPC.N shares dropped after the auto parts distributor lowered its full-year profit outlook.