US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs on optimism over stimulus deal talks

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* Pelosi sets Tuesday deadline for COVID-19 aid deal
* Halliburton dips after fourth consecutive quarterly loss
* IBM set to report results after markets close
* Indexes up: Dow 0.24%, S&P 0.48%, Nasdaq 0.79%

(Updates to market open)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes inched higher
at the open on Monday on hopes of a coronavirus vaccine by the
year-end, while investors were also encouraged by signs an
agreement in Washington on a fiscal package could be reached
soon.
Last week the White House proposed a $1.8 trillion stimulus
package, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had stuck to her demand
for $2.2 trillion in aid.
Pelosi said on Sunday she wanted a bill passed before the
Nov. 3 presidential election, but acknowledged an agreement
would have to come by Tuesday for that to happen. "Today, stimulus has come to the front of the conversation
without question," said Tom Mantione, managing director of UBS
Private Wealth Management in New York.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and his Democratic
challenger Joe Biden will debate for a final time on Thursday
with about two weeks left until Election Day.
The NYSE FANG+TM index .NYFANG , which includes the core
FAANG stocks, added 0.8% while nine of the 11 major indexes
rose.
Wall Street's main indexes logged slight gains last week —
the third in a row for the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the
blue-chip Dow .DJI — as news that a COVID-19 vaccine could be
available by the end of the year helped offset worries about the
elusive federal aid bill. After the financial sector set a mixed tone to the start of
the third-quarter earnings season, investors will look to
results from about 91 S&P 500 companies this week including
International Business Machines Corp IBM.N and Netflix Inc
NFLX.O .
Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co HAL.N posted its
fourth consecutive quarterly loss as this year's slump in oil
prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic hit demand for its services.
Its shares, however, rose about 1%. ConocoPhillips COP.N slipped 1.8% as it agreed to buy U.S.
shale oil producer Concho Resources Inc CXO.N for $9.7
billion, as the energy sector continued to consolidate. Concho
fell 1.1%. At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 67.45 points, or 0.24%, at 28,673.76, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 16.57 points, or 0.48%, at 3,500.38. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 92.34 points, or 0.79%, at 11,763.89.
Chipmaker Microchip Technology Inc MCHP.O gained about 3%
after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight".
American Equity Investment Life Holding Co AEL.N slumped
11.8% as it said it had entered into a strategic partnership
with Brookfield Asset Management Inc BAMa.TO and rejected an
unsolicited acquisition proposal from Athene Holding Ltd ATH.N
and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.86-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.98-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 44 new highs and eight new lows.