US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs on vaccine hopes, upbeat consumer data

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* U.S. retail sales accelerate in September
* Dow Jones Transport index drops 1%
* Indexes up: Dow 0.90%, S&P 0.53%, Nasdaq 0.24%

(Adds details; Updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street bounced back on Friday after
three straight days of losses, following a positive update from
Pfizer on development of its COVID-19 vaccine and on data that
showed stronger-than-expected retail sales growth last month.
The drugmaker's shares PFE.N firmed 2.4% as it expects to
provide safety data and file for authorization of the vaccine it
is developing with Germany's BioNTech SE 22UAy.F , as soon as a
safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November.
BioNTech's U.S.-listed shares BNTX.O jumped 1.8%.
Latest data showed U.S. retail sales increased more than
expected in September, though recovery from the recession is at
a crossroads as government money runs out and new COVID-19
infections surge across the country. The University of Michigan's preliminary index on consumer
sentiment for October came in at 81.2, ahead of the 80.5
forecast.
"Amid a stagnating labor market, the jump in retail sales
this month suggests consumer strength is pretty robust," said
Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at
E*TRADE Financial LLC in Jersey City.
"While a resilient consumer is a broad positive for the
recovery, today's results could reduce the pressure on lawmakers
to get any stimulus measure through before the election."
Trading on Wall Street this week has been dictated by news
about more federal aid to help businesses and households reeling
from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the S&P 500 on
track for its smallest weekly gains in three.
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden
will return to the campaign trail with visits to three
battleground states, a day after the two contenders clashed from
afar during dueling televised town halls. Meanwhile, after a mixed start to the third-quarter earnings
season from the big Wall Street lenders, investors will look
next week to results from Netflix Inc NFLX.O , one of the
technology mega-caps that have benefited from stay-at-home
demand during the pandemic.
Analysts' expectations for S&P 500 companies' earnings have
improved to an 18.8% fall from a 25% tumble forecast three
months earlier.
Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors rose. Energy .SPNY and
real estate indexes .SPLRCR were the only ones in negative
territory.
At 11:17 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 255.40 points, or 0.90%, at 28,749.60, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 18.31 points, or 0.53%, at 3,501.65. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 28.56 points, or 0.24%, at 11,742.43.
Kansas City Southern KSU.N shed 2.3% as the railroad
operator's quarterly revenue missed estimates, while
transportation and logistics company J.B. Hunt Transport
Services Inc JBHT.O tumbled 8.1% after it missed profit
estimates. The Dow Jones Transport index .DJT fell 1%.
Schlumberger SLB.N slid 7.1% after the top oilfield
services provider reported a third straight quarterly loss,
pulling the S&P energy index .SPNY down 0.5%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.29-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.26-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 49 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and 12 new lows.