* Target shares slump as holiday sales miss
* UnitedHealth rises after backing full-year forecast
* Indexes up: Dow 0.39%, S&P 0.19%, Nasdaq 0.19%
(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Sruthi Shankar and Susan Mathew
Jan 15 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose to trade near all-time
high on Wednesday after the United States and China signed a
Phase 1 trade agreement and pledged to resolve their
longstanding tariff dispute that has roiled financial markets in
the recent years.
The centerpiece of the deal is a pledge by China to purchase
at least an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. farm products
and other goods and services over two years, over a baseline of
$186 billion in purchases in 2017.
However, the signing of the deal drew lukewarm response from
the stock market.
"We had a historic signing but there is nothing in there
that was fresh so I think the theme is going to be earnings,"
said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in
Bernardsville, New Jersey.
President Donald Trump said he would remove all U.S. tariffs
on Chinese imports as soon as the two countries complete the
Phase 2 trade agreement, on which negotiations will start soon.
At 1:35 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 112.69 points, or 0.39%, at 29,052.36, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 6.16 points, or 0.19%, at 3,289.31 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 17.37 points, or 0.19%, at 9,268.70.
Wall Street indexes came off their record highs hit earlier
in the session, with disappointing earnings updates from Bank of
America and Goldman Sachs weighed on the S&P 500 banking sector
which fell 2.1%.
Bank of America Corp BAC.N reported a better-than-expected
quarterly profit, but warned of weak net interest income in the
first half of 2020, knocking shares 2%.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N edged up 0.4% despite
reporting a bigger-than-expected fall in profit as it set aside
more money to cover legal costs. In other earnings-related news, UnitedHealth Group Inc
UNH.N , the largest U.S. health insurer, rose 3.2% as it
affirmed its full-year outlook for 2020 adjusted earnings. The
healthcare sector .SPXHC , up 0.8%, was a top gainer among the
11 S&P subsectors.
Retailer Target Corp TGT.N slumped 7.6% after it missed
its own expectations for 2019 holiday season sales after
reporting a drop in online growth and demand for toys and
electronics. Toymakers Mattel Inc MAT.O and Hasbro Inc HAS.O fell
4.4% and 2.6%, respectively, while electronics seller Best Buy
BBY.N dropped 1.1%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.35-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.40-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 72 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 137 new highs and 13 new lows.