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US STOCKS-Trade deal hopes, earnings propel Wall St to another record high

Published 15/11/2019, 18:52
US STOCKS-Trade deal hopes, earnings propel Wall St to another record high
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* Kudlow says U.S., China getting close to trade deal

* Applied Materials jumps on strong forecast

* S&P 500 on track for six weeks of gains

* Data shows domestic retail sales rebound in October

* Indexes up: Dow 0.54%, S&P 0.56%, Nasdaq 0.59%

(Updates to early afternoon)

By Arjun Panchadar

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes hit fresh

record highs on Friday, as optimism related to U.S.-China trade

talks and solid earnings from semiconductor industry bellwether

Applied Materials boosted risk appetite.

Shares in Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O jumped 9.3% and

pushed the Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX to an

all-time high after the chip gear maker forecast first-quarter

results above estimates. Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher. Healthcare

shares .SPXHC gained 1.3% and provided the biggest boost

followed by the trade-sensitive technology sector .SPLRCT ,

which rose 0.65%.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said late on

Thursday that the world's two largest economies were getting

close to a trade agreement, citing what he called very

constructive talks with Beijing. Adding to the upbeat mood, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

said there would be a call between U.S. and Chinese officials

later on Friday. "We are definitely headed in the right direction with regard

to trade," said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at GlobAlt in

Atlanta.

"Although there was some skittishness ... the equity market

hasn't shown much of a pull back and we are still making those

highs."

Wall Street's main indexes have been powered recently by

hopes of a trade deal, largely better-than-expected

third-quarter earnings and a third interest rate cut by the

Federal Reserve.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was on course to post its sixth

weekly percentage rise.

Data showed U.S. retail sales rebounded in October, but

consumers cut back on purchases of big-ticket household items

and clothing, which could temper expectations for a strong

holiday shopping season. The report comes a day after the benchmark S&P hit an

all-time closing high after retail giant Walmart Inc's WMT.N

robust earnings. At 12:33 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was

up 149.99 points, or 0.54%, at 27,931.95, the S&P 500 .SPX was

up 17.36 points, or 0.56%, at 3,113.99 and the Nasdaq Composite

.IXIC was up 49.83 points, or 0.59%, at 8,528.84.

Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O gained 1.1% after Mizuho upgraded its

rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral", while JP Morgan

raised its price target. But Nvidia Corp NVDA.O fell 2.3% as the company said it

expects its gaming chip business to be impacted by seasonal

weakness in the fourth quarter. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.00-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and a 1.69-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 46 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq recorded 96 new highs and 84 new lows.

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