* Nike falls as North America revenue disappoints
* Carnival Corp top pct gainer on S&P 500
* Consumer spending rose 0.4% last month
* Indexes up: Dow 0.5%, S&P 0.6%, Nasdaq 0.5%
By Uday Sampath Kumar and C Nivedita
Dec 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 hit a record high for the
seventh straight session on Friday, its longest in over two
years, as investor sentiment improved on progress in U.S.-China
trade relations and strength in domestic consumer spending.
The Dow Industrials .DJI and Nasdaq .IXIC were heading
for a second consecutive week of gains, while the benchmark S&P
500 .SPX was set to wrap up its fourth weekly advance.
U.S. President Donald Trump claimed progress on issues from
trade to North Korea and Hong Kong after speaking with Chinese
President Xi Jinping, dispelling fears of another escalation in
the trade dispute. "What investors like is that we seem very, very close to
signing a phase one (trade) deal," said Michael Geraghty, equity
strategist at Cornerstone Capital Group.
"The details will be important and interesting, but I think
for investors, what's important right now is that finally China
and the U.S. seem to be on the same page."
Consumer spending, a key to U.S. economic growth and a major
focus for investors, rose 0.4% last month, adding to a string of
upbeat data that have helped put behind recession fears, which
had dogged markets earlier this year.
At 12:48 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 134.62 points, or 0.47%, at 28,511.58, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 17.91 points, or 0.56%, at 3,223.28 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 40.47 points, or 0.46%, at 8,927.69.
The Dow touched an all-time high for the second straight
session, while the Nasdaq hit intraday records for the third
straight day.
All 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the black, with
technology .SPLRCT and healthcare .SPXHC stocks providing
the biggest boost.
Nike Inc NKE.N fell 1.4%, after the world's largest
sportswear maker reported lower-than-expected growth in revenue
from North America.
Cruise operators were the top percentage gainers on the S&P
500, led by Carnival Corp CCL.N which rose 7.3% after
forecasting a 2020 profit largely above estimates. U.S. Steel Corp X.N tumbled 9.5%, after the company said
it expects a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.
Markets are likely to be volatile on Friday due to
"quadruple witching," where investors unwind positions in
futures and options contracts before their expiration.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.96-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.33-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 72 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 144 new highs and 29 new lows.
S&P 500 Records https://tmsnrt.rs/2Mf6LNo
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