INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Wall Street's main indexes were on track for their fourth week of gains on Friday, led by technology and industrial stocks, amid hopes
that a bitter trade war between United States and China would finally come to an end.
Also helping sentiment was latest data showing United
States manufacturing output increased by most in 10 months in December, which could allay fears of a sharp slowdown in factory
activity.
The trade optimism was carried over from late Thursday session following a report that United States Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin was considering lifting some or all tariffs imposed on Chinese imports
The Treasury denied Mnuchin had made any such recommendation.
Trade-sensitive industrials stocks rose 0.85 percent while Philadelphia SE
semiconductor index climbed 0.55 percent
A 0.6 percent rise in technology sector was biggest boost to SP 500.
The benchmark index, which closed above its 50-day moving average for
3, is now about 11 percent away from its Sept
20 record close after having rallied from a 20-month low on Christmas Eve.
"Usually these 'rumors' aren't necessarily untrue, they just
aren't true yet, which generally means there is some progress going on but they just don't want to tell anyone yet," said Randy Frederick,
vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin.
"Whenever you see a major broad market index cross through these
moving averages then it tends to result in a small upturn."
Schlumberger rose 5.27 percent after world's largest oilfield services
provider reported a quarterly revenue beat.
The energy sector, which is best performing SP sector so far in 2019, rose 1.06 percent, boosted
by higher oil prices.
At 9:41 a.m
EDT Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 130.77 points, or 0.54 percent, at 24,500.87, SP 500 was up 14.67 points, or 0.56 percent, at
2,650.63 and Nasdaq Composite was up 27.93 points, or 0.39 percent, at 7,112.39.
Late on Thursday, Netflix Inc posted record new subscriber
additions in fourth quarter but investors were disappointed with its current-quarter revenue forecast.
Shares of world's largest streaming
service fell 1.97 percent, pulling back from a more than 4 percent decline in premarket trade.
Netflix remains best performing FAANG stock
this year, rising more than 30 percent
Rest of FAANG members, which will report their quarterly results in coming weeks, rose between 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent.
American Express
Co fell 2.68 percent and was top decliner on Dow after credit-card company's fourth-quarter profit fell short of estimates.
Shares of
Tesla Inc slid 6.80 percent after company said it would cut 7 percent of its workforce and forecast a smaller quarterly profit, compared
with preceding quarter.
Earnings season gains momentum as more than 50 SP 500 companies report results in upcoming holiday-shortened week,
with United States stock exchanges closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr
Day.
Analysts have lowered their fourth-quarter earnings forecast for SP 500 companies to 14.2 percent from 20.1 percent estimated on Oct
1, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.72-to-1 ratio on NYSE and by a 2.06-to-1 ratio on
Nasdaq.
The SP index recorded three new 52-week highs and no new low, while Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and five new lows.
