(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* All 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the black
* Trade-exposed Apple, tech stocks gain
* Boeing slips on 737 MAX production concerns
* IFF slips on merger with DuPont unit
* Indexes up: Dow 0.7%, S&P 0.8%, Nasdaq 1%
(Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Dec 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street notched a fresh record high
on Monday as investor confidence was boosted by upbeat data from
China, while cooling trade tensions between the world's two
biggest economies removed one of the hurdles for global economic
growth.
Data showed China's industrial output and retail sales
growth accelerated in November, adding to optimism from the
announcement of a trade deal by the two sides on Friday.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , among the biggest companies to benefit
from the deal, rose 1.7%. Chipmakers that make the components
for its iPhones also gained.
"This deal could be the start of a series of phased
rollbacks (in tariffs), which could unlock further upside for
equity markets, driven by an improvement in business confidence
and a recovery in investment," said Mark Haefele, chief
investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.
On Sunday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said
the trade deal was "totally done" and expected it to nearly
double U.S. exports to China over the next two years.
The benchmark S&P 500 has risen in nine of the past ten
weeks on the back of improving trade sentiment, a solid
third-quarter earnings season, a dovish Federal Reserve and
upbeat economic indicators.
In its policy meeting last week, the Fed stood pat on
interest rates, as expected, and kept the bar high for future
reductions.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT rose 1.2% and led gains among
the 11 major S&P 500 sectors. Financials .SPSY rose 1% after
brokerage Citigroup bumped up its price targets on the big
banks.
At 10:22 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 197.85 points, or 0.70%, at 28,333.23, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 26.19 points, or 0.83%, at 3,194.99 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 86.77 points, or 0.99%, at 8,821.65.
Boeing Co BA.N fell 2.3% on reports the planemaker was
considering whether to cut or halt production of its grounded
737 MAX aircraft. Boeing's suppliers also felt the heat, with General Electric
Co GE.N down 0.8% and Spirit AeroSystems Inc SPR.N tumbling
nearly 4%.
Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc IFF.N
fell 7.1% after it said it would merge with DuPont Inc's DD.N
nutrition & biosciences unit. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 3.43-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 62 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 147 new highs and 29 new lows.