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* Ten of 11 major S&P 500 sectors trading higher
* China service sector activity hits 3-month high
* Indexes up: Dow 0.83%, S&P 1%, Nasdaq 1.23%
(Updates to late afternoon; adds commentary, New York dateline;
changes byline)
By Sinéad Carew
New York Sept 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes
rebounded on Wednesday, after robust economic data from China,
easing tensions in Hong Kong and British lawmakers' approval of
a law to delay Brexit provided a dose of optimism to investors
worried about global growth.
Lawmakers in Britain's lower house of Parliament voted to
approve legislation designed to prevent Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's government from taking the country out of the European
Union without a deal. In China, activity in the services sector expanded at the
fastest pace in three months in August, providing a boost to the
world's second-largest economy, which has been struggling to
reverse a prolonged slump in its manufacturing sector.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam withdrew an extradition bill
that had triggered months of often violent protests in the
Chinese-ruled city. "Some of the pessimism we started the month off with has
eased slightly," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer
at Independent Advisor Alliance, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Anything that happens that could possibly derail a hard
Brexit is a positive for stocks," said Zaccarelli, who also
pointed to economic data from China and Germany and the news
from Hong Kong.
The president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, John
Williams (NYSE:WMB), said the U.S. economy appeared to be in a good place
while saying that he is ready to "act as appropriate" to help
avoid a downturn. The combination of news provided some relief after investors
fled equities on Tuesday following data that showed a
contraction in U.S. factory activity in August and after a new
round of tariffs from Washington and Beijing began over the
weekend.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book released on Wednesday,
showed that the U.S. economy grew at a modest pace in recent
weeks, with manufacturing buffeted by a global slowdown while
consumer purchases gave mixed signals. The report is a
compendium of anecdotes from companies around the country.
The benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year yield US10YT=RR rose
on Wednesday, with the yield curve at its steepest in more than
two weeks. US/
At 3:27PM, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
217.91 points, or 0.83%, to 26,335.93, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
28.92 points, or 1.00%, to 2,935.19 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 96.59 points, or 1.23%, to 7,970.74.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT provided the biggest boost of
the S&P's 11 major sectors with a 1.5% gain. The only sector in
the red was healthcare .SPXHC , which was down 0.3%.
Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) TSN.N shares fell 7% after the biggest
U.S. meat processor cut its 2019 earnings forecast. Starbucks Corp SBUX.O dropped 0.9% after the company said
it expects 2020 adjusted profit growth to be lower than 2019 as
it factors in the impact of a one-time tax benefit that has
inflated its bottom line this year.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.85-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.08-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 64 new 52-week highs and three new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 57 new highs and 74 new lows.