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* Wall Street set to buck 3-day losing streak
* U.S. private sector job growth at 6-month low in Nov - ADP
* J&J up as new tests show no asbestos in baby powder
* Alphabet rises as Sundar Pichai named CEO
* Indexes up: Dow 0.76%, S&P 500 0.79%, Nasdaq 0.73%
(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose for the
first time in four sessions on Wednesday, following a report
that the United States and China were moving closer to signing a
'phase-one' trade deal.
Washington and Beijing are getting close to agreeing on the
amount of tariffs to be rolled back, Bloomberg reported, a day
after comments from President Donald Trump and Commerce
Secretary Wilbur Ross dampened hopes of a possible near-term
agreement. A record run for the three main indexes, fueled by optimism
on trade, came to a halt at the end of last week as political
risks heightened between the two countries over Hong Kong.
"China and United States are playing a game of poker," said
Mark Grant, chief global strategist at B. Riley FBR Inc.
"They make these comments on hopes of moving the other side
and it's difficult to figure out what the reality is, but these
certainly move the market if they look more promising or less
promising everyday."
The back-and-forth on trade has also made investors wary
after the final month of 2018 was the worst December on Wall
Street since the Great Depression. Tariff-exposed semiconductor companies also rose, with the
Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX up 1.8%. Shares of Apple
Inc AAPL.O gained 0.7%.
Markets had a knee-jerk reaction to the ADP National
Employment Report, which showed U.S. private employers added the
fewest jobs in six months in November. At 10:06 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 210.03 points, or 0.76%, at 27,712.84, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 24.42 points, or 0.79%, at 3,117.62 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 62.35 points, or 0.73%, at 8,583.
All of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher,
with energy stocks .SPNY gaining the most as oil prices surged
3%. O/R
Google-parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O rose 1.5% as Sundar
Pichai took over as chief executive officer after Larry Page and
Sergey Brin stepped aside. Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N gained 1.3% after it said recent
tests showed Johnson's Baby Powder was free of asbestos.
Expedia Group Inc EXPE.O jumped 8.8%, the most on the S&P
500, after its chief executive officer and finance head
resigned. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 4.45-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.37-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 11 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 32 new highs and 13 new lows.