(Corrects day in paragraph 1)
* U.S. adds China's Huawei to trade blacklist
* Walmart gains after comp sales beat
* Cisco rises on upbeat sales forecast
* Yields up, lifts interest rate sensitive banks
* Indexes up: Dow 0.95%, S&P 1.16%, Nasdaq 1.28%
By Amy Caren Daniel
May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes rose 1 percent on
Thursday and were on pace to extend a two-day winning streak,
lifted by better-than-expected earnings from Cisco and Walmart,
and robust economic data that underscored the strength of the
domestic economy.
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O rose 6.1%, the most among the S&P
and the Dow indexes, after the network gear maker gave an upbeat
sales forecast and said minimal sales exposure to China have
helped cushion the impact from trade dispute. Walmart Inc WMT.N rose 3.3% after it reported its best
first-quarter same-store sales growth in nine years. The big box
retailer also said prices for shoppers will rise due to higher
tariffs on Chinese imports. "Earnings is one positive, but the buying is across the bar,
every sector and every index is up," said Michael O'Rourke,
chief market strategist at Jones Trading in Greenwich,
Connecticut.
Strong data out of the United States soothed some fears of
an economic slowdown that ratcheted up market expectations of an
interest rate cut in the coming months.
The Commerce Department said U.S. homebuilding increased
more than expected in April, suggesting declining mortgage rates
were starting to provide some support to the struggling housing
market. Another report showed the number of Americans seeking
unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week,
pointing to sustained labor market strength that should underpin
the economy as growth slows. "We have quite a risk-on asset allocation where people are
selling Treasuries and rotating into equities," O'Rourke said.
U.S. Treasury yields gained and helped the interest rate
sensitive financial sector .SPSY rise 1.28%, the most among
the S&P sectors. US/
Investors have also been closely monitoring trade-related
news to gauge if the protracted trade dispute could be resolved
soon. The two sides are expected to resume talks in Beijing
soon.
The recent escalation in tensions have dented a rally in
stocks this year and has put the benchmark index about 3% below
its all-time high that it hit just two-weeks ago.
At 11:07 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 244.23 points, or 0.95%, at 25,892.25. The S&P 500 .SPX was
up 33.19 points, or 1.16%, at 2,884.15 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 100.46 points, or 1.28%, at 7,922.61.
Washington said it was adding Huawei Technologies Co
HWT.UL to its "Entity List", in a move that bans it from
acquiring components and technology from U.S. firms without
prior approval.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX fell 1.61%,
dragged down by losses in Huawei suppliers Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O
and Broadcom Inc AVGO.O , Xilinx Inc XLNX.O , Skyworks
Solutions Inc SWKS.O .
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.33-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 42 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 78 new highs and 40 new lows.