UPDATE 2-Thomas & Betts Q3 tops Street, shares up

* Q3 adj EPS $0.66 vs est $0.56

* Revenue falls 27 pct

* Lowers upper end of 2009 earnings outlook range

* Says outlook for transmission spending remains positive

* Shares up 8 percent (Recasts; adds conference call details, updates share movement)

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Electrical components maker Thomas & Betts Corp (TNB.N) reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped partly by lower commodity costs, but cut the upper end of its 2009 earnings outlook range.

Shares of the company, which said it continues to see very high level of activity for power transmission grid projects, rose to their year-highs.

"Non-residential construction continues to deteriorate, albeit at a decreasing rate," Chief Executive Dominic Pileggi said on a conference call.

The company is starting to see signs that declines in new residential construction have leveled off, Pileggi said.

"Annualized housing starts seem to have bottomed out, which is promising as residential construction influences demand for certain Thomas & Betts construction and utility distribution products."

New U.S. housing starts and permits rose in August to their highest level since November, lifted by a rebound in multifamily homes, a government report showed.

However, the executives who run big U.S. industrial companies are cautiously optimistic about the future and their optimism does not extend very far. [ID:nN22420972]

And so does Pileggi, who does not see any meaningful improvement in the company's key markets in the fourth quarter.

He also said the company has not yet seen any meaningful insight from stimulus spending in construction, industrial or utility markets.

EARNINGS RANGE NARROWED

For 2009, the company now sees earnings of $2.10 to $2.25 per share, compared with its prior range of $2.10 to $2.40.