REFILE-US STOCKS-Tech rally, trade hopes boost Wall St to record highs

(Corrects to "expectations" from "exceptions" in paragraph 3)
* Easing geopolitical tensions spur risk-on mood
* Apple, internet giants rally on positive brokerage
comments
* Kohl's slides after downbeat FY earnings forecast
* Indexes up: Dow 0.40%, S&P 0.45%, Nasdaq 0.76%

By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hit record highs on Thursday
as Middle East tensions eased, optimism about a U.S.-China trade
deal rose and several brokerages boosted price targets on
high-profile companies.
The biggest boosts to the main indexes were Facebook Inc
FB.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Alphabet
Inc GOOGL.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O which rose between
0.7% and 1.5%.
Apple gained on twin support from data showing iPhone sales
jumped more than 18% in China in December as well as a price
target hike by Jefferies on expectations of a strong finish to
2019. Cowen Equity Research raised its price target on Alphabet,
Facebook, and Twitter TWTR.N after its survey of U.S. ad
buyers showed upbeat spending in 2020. Technology stocks
.SPLRCT rose 0.9%, the most among the major S&P sectors.
After a wobbly start to the new year on fears of an all-out
conflict in the Middle East, nerves eased on Wednesday as
Washington and Tehran looked to defuse the crisis after Iran's
retaliatory attack following the killing of a top general.

Further aiding the sentiment, China's commerce ministry said
on Thursday that Vice Premier Liu He will sign a Phase 1 trade
deal in Washington next week, raising hopes that a prolonged
tariff war between the two sides will come to a close.
"While geopolitical risks can trigger bouts of short-term
volatility, investors should not ignore the recent improvements
in selected economic indicators and earnings," strategists at
Eastspring Investments said in a client note.
"Should the nascent recovery in the global economy continue,
further upside in global markets is still possible."
At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 115.20 points, or 0.40%, at 28,860.29, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 14.58 points, or 0.45%, at 3,267.63 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 69.25 points, or 0.76%, at 9,198.49.
After a better-than-expected private payrolls report on
Wednesday, investors are awaiting Friday's jobs report as well
as fourth-quarter reports. Big U.S. banks will kick off the
quarterly earnings season next week.
Earnings for the S&P 500 companies are expected to drop 0.6%
in their second consecutive decline, according to Refinitiv IBES
data.
Shares in Kohl's Corp KSS.N slid 8% after the department
store operator forecast full-year earnings at the bottom end of
an already lowered target. J C Penney Co Inc JCP.N dropped
5.8% after disappointing same-store sales numbers. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.43-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 55 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 112 new highs and seven new lows.