US STOCKS-Tech stocks pull Wall Street higher as U.S. eases Huawei restrictions

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* Philadelphia Chip Index set to snap 3-day losing streak
* Kohl's, J.C. Penney tumble as same-store sales disappoint
* Indexes up: Dow 0.60%, S&P 0.85%, Nasdaq 1.09%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Sruthi Shankar
May 21 (Reuters) - Technology stocks fueled a rebound on
Wall Street on Tuesday after the United States temporarily eased
curbs on China's Huawei Technologies, raising expectations that
the two countries would work toward a trade deal.
Chipmakers, which bore the brunt of Monday's sell-off, rose
after the United States granted the Chinese telecoms equipment
maker a license to buy U.S. goods until Aug. 19. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX gained 2.09% and
was on track to end a three-day slump. Shares of Huawei
suppliers such as Intel Corp INTC.O , Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O ,
Xilinx Inc XLNX.O and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O rose between 1%
and 3.5%.
The broader S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT rose 1.21%,
the most among the 10 major S&P sectors trading higher.
"It was a positive move on behalf of the Trump
administration because at certain point we do need a trade
agreement and it shows that they are still focused on getting a
deal done," said John Traynor, chief investment officer at
People's United Wealth Management.
"But getting through this really needs to happen very
quickly because it is slowing business investment."
U.S. President Donald Trump added Huawei HWT.UL to a trade
blacklist last week, leading several companies to suspend
business with the world's largest telecom equipment maker,
raising concerns about the impact on earnings for technology
companies.
The S&P 500 index .SPX is now 3% away from its all-time
high scaled earlier in May, hit by recent selling pressure on
mounting concerns about a prolonged U.S.-China trade war. The
benchmark index is set to post its worst monthly decline this
year.
At 12:58 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 153.25 points, or 0.60%, at 25,833.15. The S&P 500 .SPX
was up 24.13 points, or 0.85%, at 2,864.36 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 83.99 points, or 1.09%, at 7,786.37.
The defensive consumer staples .SPLRCS was the only major
S&P sector trading lower, down 0.21%.
Investors also largely shrugged off disappointing results
from a handful of retailers.
Kohl's Corp KSS.N plunged 8.9%, the most among S&P 500
companies, after the department store operator cut its full-year
profit forecast and reported quarterly same-store sales and
profit that missed expectations.
Rival J.C. Penney Co Inc JCP.N fell 7% after the company
reported a bigger-than-expected fall in quarterly
comparable-store sales. With over 460 of S&P 500 companies having posted
first-quarter results, 75.2% have topped analysts' profit
expectations. Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings growth
of 1.4%, a sharp turnaround from the 2% loss expected on April
1, according to Refinitiv data.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.53-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.58-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and four new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 48 new highs and 62 new lows.