* Stocks set for fifth straight session of gains
* Netflix leads gains on S&P 500
* J&J up 1% on stock upgrade
* November manufacturing and housing data beat expectations
* Dow up 0.2%, S&P 500 up 0.1%, Nasdaq flat
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By Uday Sampath Kumar
Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hovered around record levels
on Tuesday after a four-day rally, as investor confidence in the
U.S. economy was reinforced with upbeat manufacturing and
housing data.
The S&P 500 was set to build on its 27% gain this year,
driven mainly by expectations of a U.S.-China trade deal, a
dovish Federal Reserve and upbeat economic indicators.
Data from the Federal Reserve showed manufacturing output
rose more than expected in November, as the end of a strike at
General Motors GM.N plants boosted auto production.
The rebound of U.S. manufacturing is "certainly" lifting
investor sentiment, said Jeff Zipper, managing director of
investments at U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management in Florida.
"The path to least resistance seems to be up right now. Some
of that predicated on data and (trade) tensions being less bad
and that's helpful to the market."
Data also showed that U.S. homebuilding last month rose more
than expected, which boosted stocks of home improvement chains
Home Depot Inc HD.N and Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N . Cyclical sectors, which tend to do better with an improving
economy, were higher on Tuesday, with financial stocks .SPSY
providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500 .SPX .
Netflix Inc NFLX.O rose 3.3% after the streaming service
provider said its growth overseas is accelerating on the back of
its Asia-Pacific business. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 65.85 points,
or 0.23%, at 28,301.74, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 2.67 points,
or 0.08%, at 3,194.12 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up
0.41 points, or 0.00%, at 8,814.64.
Shares of Boeing Co BA.N , which said it would suspend
production of its 737 MAX jet, reversed course after early
losses.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N gained 1.0% after reports that
Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock. While there is no major economic news due this week, a
historic vote in the U.S. House of Representatives that is
likely to result in the impeachment of President Donald Trump,
poses another risk for investment decisions in the run-up to the
2020 election.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.48-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.01-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 103 new highs and 39 new lows.