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* Apple biggest boost to tech sector
* China exempts 16 types of U.S. goods from tariffs
* Baker Hughes falls as GE looks to cut stake
* Indexes up: Dow 0.37%, S&P 500 0.39%, Nasdaq 0.76%
(Updates market action, adds comments)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, lifted by
Apple a day after the launch of its latest iPhones and as China
moved to ease trade tensions with the United States by exempting
certain goods from additional retaliatory tariffs.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 2.60%, boosting all three major
indexes by the most, as it also rolled out a streaming TV
service at a price that undercuts Walt Disney Co DIS.N and
Netflix Inc NFLX.O . The gains took Apple's market valuation above $1 trillion
and lifted the wider technology sector .SPLRCT by 0.68%, the
biggest boost among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors.
Tech stocks bounced from a drop in the previous session,
which saw investors moving to more value-oriented stocks from
growth shares.
Adding to the positive momentum, China's finance ministry
moved to exempt 16 types of U.S. goods, including lubricants and
some animal feed ingredients, from additional retaliatory
tariffs, ahead of a planned meeting between trade negotiators.
While on the surface, the move is seen as a friendly gesture
to thaw relations with the United States, analysts are skeptical
about how much it will move the needle in resolving a protracted
trade war that has hurt the global economy.
The nature of the goods that are being exempted are staples
and indicates that China's decision is likely more to do with
supporting its own economy rather than extending an olive branch
to the United States, Ed Egilinsky, head of alternative
investments at Direxion said.
"There's a big difference between today's move and sitting
down at the negotiating table and actually ironing out a deal."
Comments from a senior White House adviser on Tuesday urging
investors to be patient about resolving the dispute further
downplayed expectations that a trade deal would be agreed this
year. Investors held out on big bets ahead of stimulus decisions
from central banks to stem a global slowdown. The U.S. Federal
Reserve and the European Central Bank are expected to cut
interest rates at their policy meetings over the next two weeks.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday renewed his attacks
on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, saying that the central bank
should get interest rates down to "ZERO, or less."
At 11:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 99.22 points, or 0.37%, at 27,008.65, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 11.71 points, or 0.39%, at 2,991.10 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 61.37 points, or 0.76%, at 8,145.52.
Among other stocks, shares of Micron Technology Inc MU.O
rose 2.49% after Longbow Research upgraded its stock to
"buy". Baker Hughes shares BHGE.N fell 3.63%, the most among S&P
500 companies, after parent General Electric GE.N looked to
sell a majority stake in the oilfield services provider.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.90-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and nine new lows.