US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq scale new highs; Boeing lifts Dow

* Boeing's shares rise on CEO exit
* Apache up after joint venture with rival Total
* Indexes up: Dow 0.42%, S&P 0.18%, Nasdaq 0.30%

(Updates comment, price action)
By Manas Mishra
Dec 23 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit fresh
record highs on Monday as President Donald Trump said an initial
U.S.-China trade pact would be signed "very shortly", while
Boeing was a big boost to the Dow after the planemaker fired its
chief executive officer.
Boeing Co BA.N jumped 3.2% and also lifted the S&P 500
industrials sector .SPLRCI after ousting Chief Executive
Officer Dennis Muilenburg, following a year of intense scrutiny
and industrial setbacks set off by twin fatal crashes of its 737
MAX jetliner. The benchmark S&P 500, which logged its biggest weekly
percentage gain since early September last week, hit an all-time
intraday high for the eighth straight session on Monday.
The so-called "phase one" deal, announced earlier this
month, has helped fuel a rally on Wall Street, and the momentum
continues on signs of improving U.S.-China trade relations. The
benchmark S&P 500 is up about 29% in 2019, set for its best year
since 2013.
Trump said over the weekend that the interim trade deal
would be signed "very shortly". Additionally, China said it
would cut tariffs on products including frozen pork, avocado and
some types of semiconductors next year. "Boeing is a tailwind for the markets for the day. It will
be pretty quiet this week and probably going into year end,"
said Keith Gangl, portfolio manager of Gradient Investments in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"The markets have been pretty strong year to date, and I
don't expect that to change."
With few economic indicators expected in a trading week
shortened by the Christmas holiday, volumes are expected to be
light.
Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher with technology
stocks .SPLRCT providing the biggest boost as shares of
tariff-sensitive Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 1.5%.
At 11:27 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 118.59 points, or 0.42%, at 28,573.68, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 5.65 points, or 0.18%, at 3,226.87. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 26.96 points, or 0.30%, at 8,951.92.
Apache Corp APA.N jumped 12%, the most among S&P 500
companies, after the oil and gas producer said it had formed a
joint venture with France's Total TOTF.PA to develop a project
off Suriname. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.18-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.00-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 92 new highs and 22 new lows.