US STOCKS-Wall St clings to slight gains after Trump sparks U.S.-China trade hopes

* Trump predicts swift end to trade war with China
* Financial shares rebound as Treasury yields rise
* Foot Locker, Autodesk fall as quarterly profit disappoint
* Indexes up: Dow 0.45%, S&P 500 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.29%

(Updates to late afternoon; changes byline, adds NEW YORK to
dateline)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes
edged higher on Friday in a rebound from the previous session's
losses after upbeat comments from U.S. President Donald Trump
regarding trade relations with China assuaged concerns among
some investors.
Trump said late on Thursday that he saw a resolution to the
trade war with China "happening fast." He added that Chinese
telecom equipment company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL ,
which the White House has blacklisted, could also be included in
a trade deal. Still, he called Huawei "very dangerous."
No high-level talks between the United States and China have
been scheduled since the last round of negotiations in
Washington two weeks ago.
Yet the positive comments from Trump were enough to give a
slight lift to U.S. stocks, which were trading in relatively
light volume ahead of a long weekend. U.S. markets will be
closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
"Today is being positively influenced by the latest comments
from our president, but it's overall a fairly flat day in the
markets," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at
Inverness Counsel in New York.
Even with Friday's slight advance, the S&P 500 .SPX is on
pace to end the week more than 1% lower to notch the third
straight week of losses for the benchmark index, which has been
weighed down by fears that the U.S.-China trade war would result
in a global economic slowdown.
Adding to concerns about a slowing broader economy, data
showed that new orders for U.S.-made capital goods fell more
than expected in April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 115.35 points,
or 0.45%, to 25,605.82, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 8.05 points,
or 0.29%, to 2,830.29 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
22.02 points, or 0.29%, to 7,650.31.
Financials .SPSY led percentage gains among the S&P 500's
major sectors, adding 0.8% as U.S. Treasury yields rose for the
first time in three days.
Foot Locker Inc FL.N shares plunged 16.4%, the most among
S&P 500 companies, after the footwear retailer missed quarterly
profit and same-store sales estimates. Total System Services Inc shares TSS.N jumped 13.5% on
reports that fellow payment technology services company Global
Payments Inc GPN.N is nearing a deal to acquire the company.
Global Payments shares rose 3.4%. Autodesk Inc ADSK.O shares fell 4.1% after the software
maker reported quarterly revenue and earnings that were below
expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.98-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.83-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 37 new highs and 105 new lows.