US STOCKS-S&P 500 cracks 3,300 on strong bank earnings and retail data

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* Morgan Stanley jumps on raised targets, earnings
* Chipmakers rise after TSMC's strong outlook
* Dec. retail sales rise in line with estimate
* Indexes: Dow +0.62%, S&P 500 +0.58%, Nasdaq +0.77%

(Updates to afternoon)
By Noel Randewich
Jan 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 hit the 3,300 mark for the
first time on Thursday and the other main U.S. indexes also
broke record highs, fueled by solid retail sales data and upbeat
Morgan Stanley earnings.
Morgan Stanley MS.N jumped 7.5% 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 .SPLRCT , which have played an outsized
part in the recent rally, made fresh gains. Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O rose 1.4% and chipmakers also climbed after a strong
forecast from the 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
1.2%, on track for 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."
At 2:34 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 0.62% at 29,210.35 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained
0.58% to 3,308.48.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.77% to 9,329.91.
Among other stocks, Signet Jewelers Ltd SIG.N soared 44%
after raising its 2020 adjusted earnings estimate.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp BK.N tumbled 7.9% 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 2.51-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.69-to-1 ratio favored
advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 91 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 183 new highs and five new lows.