US STOCKS-Wall Street rises on vaccine hopes, Goldman profit beat

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* Goldman Sachs jumps as trading revenue doubles
* Energy, industrial, financial stocks lead gains
* Indexes up: Dow 0.99%, S&P 0.81%, Nasdaq 0.47%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street gained on Wednesday with the
S&P 500 nearing its highest in more than four months following a
strong quarterly showing by Goldman Sachs and promising early
data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
The U.S. lender GS.N jumped 2.9% as its trading revenue
doubled in the second quarter, driven by big swings in stock and
bond markets since March. Morgan Stanley MS.N gained 2.0% and Bank of America
BAC.N 1.9% ahead of their results on Thursday, which would
wrap up earnings from the big six U.S. banks. The broader
banking index .SPXBK climbed 2.7%.
Energy .SPNY , industrials .SPLRCI and financial .SPSY
stocks led gains among the major S&P sectors.
"Better-than-expected earnings help the mood because we're
in an environment where expectations have gotten very low," said
Stephen Lee, portfolio manager at Logan Capital Management in
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
The three main U.S. stock indexes have recouped most of
their losses from the coronavirus-led slump, with a raft of
stimulus measures and encouraging economic data lifting the S&P
500 to within 5% of its record high hit in February.
With the second-quarter earnings season now underway,
investors are looking for annual forecasts from marquee
companies for signs of the pace of the rebound in Corporate
America.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX eased for the second
straight day after spiking on Monday amid a record surge in U.S.
coronavirus cases.
"We're not surprised to see volatility on a day-to-day basis
as investors balance between better-than-expected proven
recovery, waiting to see earnings results, and how successfully
this healthcare challenge is going to be managed," Lee said.
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N fell 2.3% after warning of
rising costs later this year as Americans catch up on less
urgent surgeries halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O surged 17.8% to a record high after a
small-scale study showed its experimental COVID-19 vaccine
produced high levels of virus-killing antibodies, bolstering
hopes the shot could prove effective in later stages of testing.
Travel-related stocks Carnival Corp CCL.N , Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd RCL.N , Marriott International MAR.O and Wynn
Resorts WYNN.O rose between 4.6% and 8.2%, with the S&P 1500
airlines index .SPCOMAIR up 5.5%.
At 9:38 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 264.92 points, or 0.99%, at 26,907.51, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 25.78 points, or 0.81%, at 3,223.30, and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 49.05 points, or 0.47%, at 10,537.62.
Apple AAPL.O rose 1.2% after Europe's second-top court
rejected an EU order to the iPhone maker to pay 13 billion euros
($14.78 billion) in Irish back taxes. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 5.67-to-1 on the NYSE
and 4.55-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 18 new 52-week highs, while the
Nasdaq recorded 32 new highs. Neither index recorded a new low.