US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs after Fed signals potential rate cuts

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Fed holds rates steady, signals potential cuts this year
* Adobe buoys S&P 500 after strong quarterly results
* Dow up 0.13%, S&P up 0.11%, Nasdaq flat

(Updates with afternoon trade after Fed announcement)
By Noel Randewich
June 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Wednesday after the
Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and signaled
potential cuts later this year, reassuring investors worried
that the U.S.-China trade war could stall economic growth.
Saying it "will act as appropriate to sustain" economic
expansion, the central bank signaled rate cuts of as much as
half a percentage point over the remainder of 2019. "We think the Fed delivered. It did no harm. It walked right
up to a cut without doing it today. It'll likely be coming in
July absent some big trade news or other news," said John
Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington Bank in
Columbus, Ohio.
Buoyed by growing confidence the Fed will cut rates, and by
hopes of an end to the U.S.-China trade war, U.S. stocks have
climbed in recent weeks. The S&P 500 .SPX has gained about 6%
in June and is about 1% away from its record high close set in
April.
The financial sector .SPSY dipped 0.1%, with bank stocks
.SPXBK dipping 0.5%.
At 2:43 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 0.13% at 26,499.78 points, while the S&P 500 was up 0.11% at
2,921.06.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was flat at 7,953.98.
Contributing more than any other stock to the S&P 500's
advance, Adobe Inc ADBE.O surged 4.5% after the Photoshop
software provider beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit
and revenue. Weighing most on the S&P 500 was Facebook, down 1.5%, as its
ambitious plan to launch a digital currency faced a backlash
from regulators and politicians in the United States and abroad.
The healthcare sector .SPXHC rose 0.8%, helped by gains in
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N , Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Allergan
Plc AGN.N .
Allergan jumped 5.7% after the drugmaker said its
constipation drug, jointly developed with Ironwood
Pharmaceuticals Inc IRWD.O , improved symptoms in patients
suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.31-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.17-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 49 new highs and 55 new lows.