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* China says trade deal would see tariffs removed in phases
* Trade-sensitive chipmakers, industrials rise
* Qualcomm among top boosts to S&P 500, Nasdaq on strong
forecast
* Ralph Lauren surges on profit beat
* Indexes jump: Dow 0.90%, S&P 0.54%, Nasdaq 0.70%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street hit fresh record highs on
Thursday, as investors cheered signs of progress in U.S.-China
trade relations and a batch of largely upbeat earnings reports.
The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX is eyeing its fifth
straight week of gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC is
on track to rise for a sixth week in a row.
China said on Thursday it had agreed with the United States
to remove tariffs in phases, while state-owned Xinhua News
Agency said Beijing was also considering removing restrictions
on poultry imports. "The bottom line is if some of the tariffs are relieved, it
diminishes any prospect of a recession so that's positive for
stocks," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan
Capital Securities in New York.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with a
rally in oil prices driving a 1.27% gain in the energy sector
.SPNY , while financials .SPSY were up 1.23% as the benchmark
10 year U.S. Treasury yield hit a three-month high. US/
The technology sector .SPLRCT provided the biggest boost
to the S&P 500, riding on a 7.6% jump in Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O
shares after it forecast current-quarter profit above analysts'
estimates. Together with Qualcomm, other chipmakers, which have a
sizeable exposure to China, also rose, propping the Philadelphia
Semiconductor index .SOX 1.41% higher.
The trade-sensitive industrials sector .SPLRCI was up
0.7%.
"Trade right now looks like the one thing that can push the
markets higher at this point, because we have got through
earnings and most of the heavy hitting economic data points for
the month," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and
senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
Of the 430 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so
far, 74% have beaten profit expectations, according to IBES data
from Refinitiv.
At 1:04 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 248.63 points, or 0.90%, at 27,741.19, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 16.70 points, or 0.54%, at 3,093.48. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 58.55 points, or 0.70%, at 8,469.17.
Ralph Lauren Corp RL.N surged 12.7% after it topped
second-quarter profit expectations, helped by a tighter control
on expenses and strong demand for its Polo shirts and tweed
jackets in China and Europe. Expedia Group Inc EXPE.O plunged 26% as the online travel
booking company missed quarterly profit estimates. Roku Inc ROKU.O dropped 11% after posting a bigger net
loss in the third quarter, as it spent more to attract
subscribers to its video streaming platform. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.13-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.44-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 54 new 52-week highs and five new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 106 new highs and 69 new lows.