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* Apple, Microsoft, chip stocks boost tech
* All 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the black
* Best Buy falls on weak same-store sales forecast
* Dollar General climbs after raising profit forecast
* Indexes up: Dow 1.34%, S&P 1.35%, Nasdaq 1.55%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Akanksha Rana and Shreyashi Sanyal
Aug 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes surged on
Thursday, boosted by technology stocks, as China sounded hopeful
on trade negotiations with the United States, lifting investor
sentiment that has been dented by growing worries of a
recession.
China's commerce ministry said both sides are discussing the
next round of talks scheduled in September and hoped U.S.
officials could cancel the planned additional tariffs to avoid
an escalation.
President Donald Trump said in a Fox News radio interview
that trade talks were scheduled for Thursday "at a different
level," but did not provide additional details. Tariff-sensitive tech stocks .SPLRCT jumped 1.84%, boosted
by gains in Apple Inc AAPL.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O .
Chipmakers, which draw a large part of their revenue from
China, also gained, sending the Philadelphia chip index .SOX
up 2.76%.
"Markets are trading on hopes because they (U.S. and China)
are going to be talking and for the time being things aren't
getting worse," said Larry Adam, chief investment officer at
Raymond James in Baltimore.
"China is giving the U.S. another chance because we have
seen weaker data coming out of both sides and it is important
for them to extend the olive branch."
Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG) DG.N was the top gainer among S&P 500
.SPX companies after its shares rose 10% on upbeat full-year
profit forecast. Wall Street's rise hit a bump earlier in the session after
European Central Bank policy maker Klaas Knot was reported to
have said that the euro zone economy did not warrant a
resumption of bond purchases. At 12:57 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 348.64 points, or 1.34%, at 26,384.74 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 38.89 points, or 1.35%, at 2,926.83.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 121.62 points, or 1.55%,
at 7,978.50.
Still, the three main indexes are on course to log their
worst monthly performance since a selloff in May, on fears that
tit-for-tat tariffs will drive the global economy into
recession. US/
Investors will keep a close watch on the monthly jobs
numbers and manufacturing data next week that will provide
guidance on the likelihood of another rate cut from the Federal
Reserve at its mid-September meeting.
The Trump administration on Wednesday made official its
additional 5% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports and set
collection dates of Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, prompting several
hundreds of U.S. companies to warn of price hikes. A number of companies, including Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) BBY.N and
Abercrombie & Fitch Co ANF.N , that reported results earlier
in the day warned of the impact from tariffs on their sales.
Shares of the U.S. consumer electronics retailer slid 8.7%,
to the bottom of the S&P 500, while those of the teen retailer
tumbled 15%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.81-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 3.10-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 33 new highs and 39 new lows.