US STOCKS-Wall St eyes high score as videogame makers rally

* Snapchat slumps after tepid results; Tencent (HKSE: 0700-OL.HK - news) takes a stake

* Videogame makers rally on optimism about holiday shopping

* Indexes: Dow +0.05 pct, S&P +0.13 pct, Nasdaq +.28 pct (Updates to mid-afternoon trading)

By Noel Randewich

Nov 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 approached its highest ever close on Wednesday as a rally in videogame makers helped offset doubts about an ambitious Republican plan to cut corporate taxes and weakness in banks.

Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) rose 0.65 percent, putting it on track to end the day with a market value above $900 billion for the first time.

Take-Two Interactive Software jumped 10.8 percent after the videogame maker offered a stronger-than-expected revenue forecast for the holiday quarter.

That sparked a rally among its competitors, with Activision Blizzard surging 5.80 percent and Electronic Arts (NasdaqGS: EA - news) adding 1.9 percent.

Investors were nervous about the potential outcome of the Republican plan unveiled last week that would cut corporate taxes while eliminating a range of popular tax breaks. The bill is expected to face strong opposition from interest groups.

Republicans have yet to score a major legislative win since Trump took office in January, even though the party controls both chambers of Congress as well as the White House.

"It's a complicated, messy affair to get a tax bill passed," said Tim Dreiling, Regional investment Director for U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, with $150 billion in assets under management.

"There is going to be some give and take before we get a final tax package to be voted on."

The S&P 500 has risen about 21 percent since the election of President Donald Trump a year ago, partly on the back of his promises to cut taxes and other business-friendly measures.

At 2:23 pm ET (1923 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.05 percent at 23,569.28 points, while the S&P 500 had gained 0.13 percent to 2,594.04.

At that level, the S&P 500 was below an intra-day record high set on Tuesday but was higher than its previous record closing level on Monday.

The Nasdaq Composite added 0.28 percent to 6,786.64.

Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 0.98-percent rise in consumer staples.

The tech sector was boosted by a 1.45 percent rise in Qualcomm (Swiss: QCOM-USD.SW - news) .

Snapchat-owner Snap fell 16.6 percent a day after reporting much-slower-than expected advertising revenue and user growth. Snap said China's Tencent bought a 12-percent stake in the company.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.07-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq (Frankfurt: 813516 - news) , a 1.16-to-1 ratio favored decliners. (Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal)