* Boeing shares rise on CEO exit
* Apache up after joint venture with Total
* S&P 500 boosted by technology, industrials
* Indexes rise: Dow 0.39%, S&P 0.12%, Nasdaq 0.28%
(Updates price action)
By Manas Mishra
Dec 23 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit fresh
record highs on Monday as President Donald Trump said an initial
U.S.-China trade pact would be signed soon, while Boeing was a
big boost to the Dow after the planemaker fired its chief
executive officer.
Boeing Co BA.N jumped 2.7% and also lifted the S&P 500
industrials sector .SPLRCI after CEO Dennis Muilenburg's exit
following a year of intense scrutiny and industrial setbacks set
off by twin fatal crashes of its 737 MAX jetliner. "Boeing is a tailwind for the markets for the day. It will
be pretty quiet this week and probably going into year end,"
said Keith Gangl, portfolio manager of Gradient Investments in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"The markets have been pretty strong year to date, and I
don't expect that to change."
The benchmark S&P 500, which logged its biggest weekly
percentage gain since early September last week, hit an all-time
intraday high for the eighth straight session on Monday.
The Phase 1 U.S.-China deal, announced earlier this month,
has helped fuel a rally on Wall Street, and the momentum
continues on signs of improving trade relations between the two
countries. The benchmark S&P 500 is up about 29% in 2019, set
for its best year since 2013.
Trump said over the weekend that the interim trade deal
would be signed "very shortly". Additionally, China said it
would cut tariffs on products including frozen pork, avocado and
some types of semiconductors next year. With few economic indicators expected in a trading week
shortened by the Christmas holiday, volumes are expected to be
light.
Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with
technology stocks .SPLRCT providing the biggest boost as
shares of tariff-sensitive Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 1.5%.
At 12:39 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 110.56 points, or 0.39%, at 28,565.65, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 3.95 points, or 0.12%, at 3,225.17. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 25.21 points, or 0.28%, at 8,950.17.
Apache Corp APA.N jumped 14.7%, the most among S&P 500
companies, after the oil and gas producer said it had formed a
joint venture with France's Total TOTF.PA to develop a project
off Suriname. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.19-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 42 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 118 new highs and 25 new lows.