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* Nike dips as North America revenue disappoints
* Carnival Corp top pct gainer on S&P 500
* Consumer spending rose 0.4% last month
* Indexes up: Dow 0.3%, S&P 0.4%, Nasdaq 0.2%
(Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks inched to fresh record highs
on Friday, as investors remained optimistic about improving
trade relations between Washington and Beijing in the run-up to
the holiday season.
All three major stock indexes have been trading at record
levels for over a week, boosted by the announcement of an
initial U.S.-China trade agreement and upbeat economic
indicators.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday the
long-awaited trade deal had been penned down and would be signed
in early January, dispelling fears of another escalation in the
tariff dispute.
Beijing, however, later dodged questions about specific
details about the agreement. "While we're waiting to hear the details of a deal, what
we're not doing is increasing tariffs," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at National Securities in New York. "We're not
escalating, and that's what the market cares about."
The S&P 500 .SPX hit a record high for the seventh
straight session on Friday, its longest streak since October
2017. With gains of nearly 28% this year, the benchmark index is
eyeing its best annual performance since 2013.
The Dow Industrials .DJI and Nasdaq .IXIC touched
all-time highs for the second straight session.
Markets are likely to become volatile on Friday due to
"quadruple witching," where investors unwind positions in
futures and options contracts before their expiration.
At 10:12 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 82.01 points, or 0.29%, at 28,458.97, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 11.94 points, or 0.37%, at 3,217.31 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 20.43 points, or 0.23%, at 8,907.65.
The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending
rose 0.4% last month, in line with expectations, as households
stepped up purchases of motor vehicles and spent more on
healthcare.
Nike Inc NKE.N fell 1.7% after the world's largest
sportswear maker reported lower-than-expected growth in revenue
from North America. Boeing Co's BA.N biggest supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Inc
SPR.N dropped 1.4% after saying it would temporarily halt
production of 737 MAX parts beginning Jan. 1. Boeing shares fell
1.0%. Carnival Corp CCL.N rose 8.5% and was the biggest
percentage gainer on the S&P 500, after the cruise operator
forecast a 2020 profit largely above estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.85-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and 1.13-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 66 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 110 new highs and 21 new lows.
S&P 500 Records https://tmsnrt.rs/2Mf6LNo
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