US STOCKS-S&P 500 scales over 4-month peak on vaccine hopes, Goldman profit beat

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* Goldman Sachs jumps as trading revenue doubles
* Energy, industrial, financial stocks lead gains
* Apple up as it wins tax dispute against European
Commission
* Indexes up: Dow 1.28%, S&P 1.22%, Nasdaq 1.10%

(Adds quote, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street gained on Wednesday with the
S&P 500 hitting its highest in more than four months following a
strong quarterly showing by Goldman Sachs and promising early
data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
The U.S. lender GS.N jumped 1.4% as its trading revenue
doubled in the second quarter, driven by big swings in stock and
bond markets since March. Morgan Stanley MS.N gained 0.6% and Bank of America
BAC.N 1.1% ahead of their results on Thursday, which would
wrap up earnings from the big six U.S. banks. The broader
banking index .SPXBK climbed 2.0%.
Energy .SPNY , industrials .SPLRCI and materials
.SPLRCM led gains among the major S&P sectors.
"We're being led by the cyclical investing which means
people believe that the economy has reached a nadir and is going
to start trending higher," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio
manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
The three main U.S. stock indexes have recouped most of
their losses from the coronavirus-led slump, with a raft of
stimulus measures and encouraging economic data lifting the S&P
500 to within 5% of its record high hit in February.
With the second-quarter earnings season now underway,
investors are looking for annual forecasts from marquee
companies for signs of the pace of the rebound in Corporate
America.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX eased for the second
straight day after spiking on Monday amid a record surge in U.S.
coronavirus cases.
"The market started off strong on the news that Moderna is
finding some success in their interim phase one trials for a
COVID-19 drug and the news from Goldman Sachs feeding by a wide
margin," said Pavlik.
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N fell 0.3% after warning of
rising costs later this year as Americans catch up on less
urgent surgeries halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O surged 12.4% after a small-scale study
showed its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of
virus-killing antibodies, bolstering hopes the shot could prove
effective in later stages of testing. Travel-related stocks Carnival Corp CCL.N , Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd RCL.N , Marriott International MAR.O and Wynn
Resorts WYNN.O rose between 7% and 11%, with the S&P 1500
airlines index .SPCOMAIR up 6.4%.
At 10:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 342.12 points, or 1.28%, at 26,984.71, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 38.89 points, or 1.22%, at 3,236.41. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 114.95 points, or 1.10%, at 10,603.52.
Apple AAPL.O rose 1.6% after Europe's second-top court
rejected an EU order to the iPhone maker to pay 13 billion euros
($14.78 billion) in Irish back taxes. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 6.41-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 5.63-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 54 new highs and no new lows.