US STOCKS-S&P 500 blasts through 3,300 as tech stocks surge

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Morgan Stanley jumps on raised targets, earnings
* Chipmakers rise after TSMC's strong outlook
* Dec. retail sales rise in line with estimate
* Indexes: Dow +0.92%, S&P 500 +0.84%, Nasdaq +1.06%

(Updates to close)
By Noel Randewich
Jan 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rallied through the 3,300
mark for the first time on Thursday and the other main U.S.
indexes also surged to record highs, fueled by tech stocks,
solid retail sales data and upbeat quarterly earnings from
Morgan Stanley.
Morgan Stanley MS.N jumped 6.6% to lead the S&P 500 after
it beat quarterly profit estimates and raised its performance
goals, closing out several big U.S. lenders' earnings on a
strong note. Sentiment was further lifted by data that showed U.S. retail
sales rose 0.3% in December, in line with economists' estimates.
The retail numbers indicated the U.S. economy maintained a
moderate growth pace at the end of 2019 and eased concerns about
the sector's health following disappointing holiday sales
reports from Target Corp TGT.N and J.C. Penney Co Inc JCP.N .
"The consumer needs to be strong and evidence of that is
retail sales, which came in pretty well after some slowing over
the last several months," said Tom Martin, portfolio manager at
Globalt in Atlanta.
Technology stocks, which have played an outsized part in the
recent rally, made fresh gains. The S&P information technology
index .SPLRCT added 1.4% to a record high, leading gains among
the main sectors. Microsoft Corp MSFT.O rose 1.8% and
chipmakers also surged after a strong forecast from top contract
chip manufacturer TSMC 2330.TW TSM.N .
The new highs on Wall Street come after Washington and
Beijing on Wednesday signed a deal pausing an 18-month long
tariff war that had bruised financial markets and crimped global
growth.
China is expected to boost purchases of U.S. goods and
services in exchange for the rolling back of some tariffs as
part of the deal, but several thorny issues remain unresolved.
Analysts expect profits at S&P 500 companies to have dropped
0.4% in the fourth quarter, but full-year 2020 earnings are
estimated to grow 9.6%, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Full-year earnings estimates typically decline as the year
advances. The Russell 2000 index .RUT of small-cap stocks jumped
1.36%, its strongest session so far in 2020.
"Small caps this week are starting to act better and gain
interest from investors," said Willie Delwiche, an investment
strategist at Baird. "Broad participation in the market is
giving people a sense of ease right now that it's not just a
handful of companies moving higher."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI jumped 0.92% to end
at 29,297.64 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.84% to
3,316.89.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 1.06% to 9,357.13,
bringing its gain in 2020 to 4.29%.
Among other stocks, Signet Jewelers Ltd SIG.N soared 40%
after raising its 2020 adjusted earnings estimate.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp BK.N tumbled 7.8% to the
bottom of the S&P 500 after the custodian bank missed profit
estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a 2.57-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.78-to-1 ratio favored
advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 100 new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 200 new highs and seven new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.9 billion shares, compared
with an average of 7.0 billion shares over the last 20 trading
days.