GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks climb on trade talk, earnings news; sterling slips

* U.S. stocks higher in early trading
* Intel a boost to S&P 500
* Sterling still fragile

(Updates with oil price settlements)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Global stock indexes were
higher on Friday after upbeat news on the trade front and strong
results from companies including Intel INTC.O , while the
British pound extended losses from the previous day amid fresh
uncertainty around Britain's exit from the European Union.
Trade talks were back in focus as the U.S. trade
representative's office said U.S. and Chinese trade officials
are "close to finalizing" some parts of an agreement after
high-level telephone discussions on Friday. Washington and Beijing are working to agree the text for a
"Phase 1" trade agreement announced by U.S. President Donald
Trump on Oct. 11. Trump has said he hopes to sign the deal with
China's President Xi Jinping next month at a summit in Chile.
Intel, which posted strong results, helped to buoy the S&P
500 index in early trading, even as Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O
shares weighed following the company's forecast for revenue and
profit for the holiday quarter below expectations. The majority of U.S. companies have beaten Wall Street
expectations so far this earnings season despite concern about
the trade war.
"We've had some misses ... mostly due to trade war concerns,
but overall, it looks like we're headed for a fairly good
earnings season," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
The S&P 500 briefly surpassed its closing record of 3,025.86
from July 26 and came close to overtaking its all-time intraday
high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 165.61 points,
or 0.62%, to 26,971.14, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 12.9 points,
or 0.43%, to 3,023.19 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
53.51 points, or 0.65%, to 8,239.31.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.16% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.26%.
The world's largest beer maker by Anheuser-Busch InBev
ABI.BR tumbled on disappointing quarterly profit and a glum
outlook as the earnings season rumbled on.
Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.282, down 0.23% on
the day.
Reuters reported a source close to French President Emmanuel
Macron said an extension to the negotiations for Britain's
departure from the European Union was not justified at this
stage. In the U.S. bond market, yields were generally
rangebound. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 10/32 in price
to yield 1.8013%, from 1.766% late on Thursday.
A Reuters poll of economists showed that most think a
steeper decline in global growth is more likely than a
synchronised recovery, despite central bank easing. Markets are pricing in a 90% chance of a rate cut at next
week's Federal Reserve meeting. On the energy front, oil prices climbed, with support from
falling U.S. crude stocks. U.S. crude CLcv1 rose 43 cents to settle at $56.66 a
barrel, while Brent LCOcv1 gained 35 cents to settle at
$62.02.

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