US STOCKS-Wall St gains on better-than-expected earnings, robust economic data

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* U.S. adds China's Huawei to trade blacklist
* Walmart gains after comp sales beat
* Cisco rises on upbeat sales forecast
* Yields up, lifts interest rate sensitive banks
* Indexes up: Dow 1.16%, S&P 1.38%, Nasdaq 1.53%

(Updates prices to afternoon)
By Amy Caren Daniel
May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes extended gains to
trade more than 1% higher on Thursday, as optimism was driven by
upbeat earnings from Cisco and Walmart as well as robust
economic data that underlined the strength of the domestic
economy.
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O jumped 7%, the most among the S&P
and the Dow, after the network gear maker gave an upbeat sales
forecast and said minimal sales exposure to China has helped
cushion the impact from trade dispute. Walmart Inc WMT.N rose 2.6% after it reported its best
first-quarter same-store sales growth in nine years. The big box
retailer also said prices for shoppers will rise due to higher
tariffs on Chinese imports. All the major S&P sectors were trading higher, with nine of
them posting gains of more than 1%.
"We are seeing a bounce back rally in markets and it is
being driven by fundamentals, better-than-expected earnings and
the possibility of lower interest rates," said Bucky Hellwig,
senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham,
Alabama.
"The strength of GDP for the second quarter is yet to be
determined, but to the extent that there is a bullish outlook
supported by data, that would help top line sales growth of U.S.
companies."
Strong data out of the United States soothed some fears of
an economic slowdown that ratcheted up market expectations of an
interest rate cut in the coming months.
The Commerce Department said U.S. homebuilding increased
more than expected in April, suggesting declining mortgage rates
were starting to provide some support to the struggling housing
market. Another report showed the number of Americans seeking
unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week,
pointing to sustained labor market strength that should underpin
the economy as growth slows. U.S. Treasury yields gained and helped the interest rate
sensitive banking sector .SPXBK rise 1.84%. The broader
financial sector .SPSY gained 1.63%. US/
Investors have also been closely monitoring trade-related
news to gauge if the protracted trade dispute could be resolved
soon. The two sides are expected to resume talks in Beijing
soon.
The main indexes are set to extend a two-day winning streak.
The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX is now about 2% below its
all-time high that it hit just two-weeks ago.
At 12:24 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 297.01 points, or 1.16%, at 25,945.03. The S&P 500 .SPX was
up 39.37 points, or 1.38%, at 2,890.33 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 119.61 points, or 1.53%, at 7,941.76.
Washington said it was adding Huawei Technologies Co
HWT.UL to its "Entity List", in a move that bans it from
acquiring components and technology from U.S. firms without
prior approval.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX fell 0.77%,
weighed down by losses in Huawei suppliers Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O
and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O and Xilinx Inc XLNX.O .
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.54-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.97-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 50 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 87 new highs and 49 new lows.