US STOCKS-S&P 500 crosses 3,300 on Morgan Stanley earnings, tech rally

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* U.S. retail sales increase 0.3% in December
* Chipmakers rise after TSMC's strong outlook
* Morgan Stanley jumps on new objectives, earnings
* Indexes up: Dow 0.49%, S&P 0.46%, Nasdaq 0.70%

(Updates to open)
By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes hit record highs on
Thursday, with the S&P 500 crossing the 3,300 mark for the first
time, as upbeat earnings from Morgan Stanley and a tech rally
added to optimism from an initial U.S.-China trade deal.
Morgan Stanley's MS.N shares jumped 5.6% after the Wall
Street bank beat fourth-quarter profit estimates and raised its
performance goals, wrapping up earnings of big U.S. lenders on a
strong note. Technology stocks .SPLRCT provided the biggest boost, with
Apple Inc AAPL.O up more than 1% and chipmakers gaining after
a strong forecast from the world's top contract chipmaker TSMC
2330.TW TSM.N signaled a recovery in the sector.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX climbed 1.3%.
Global stock markets scaled new highs after Washington and
Beijing on Wednesday signed a deal that paused 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 concerns remain with several thorny issues
still unresolved. "The Phase 1 trade deal has been largely priced into
markets," said Peter Kenny, founder of Strategic Board Solutions
LLC.
"Any movement forward from here, at least in the near-term,
is going to be driven by earnings. So far, we do see a sort of a
positive tone set by the financials."
Analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 companies to have
dropped 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES
data, the second consecutive decline.
At 9:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 0.49% at 29,173.11. The S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.46% to
3,304.56 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 0.70% to
9,323.93.
Data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. retail sales
rose 0.3% in December, in-line with economists' expectations. The numbers follow disappointing holiday sales reports from
retailers including Target Corp TGT.N and J.C. Penney Co Inc
JCP.N that had raised concerns about the sector's health.
Signet Jewelers Ltd SIG.N jumped 33.8% after raising 2020
adjusted earnings estimate on the back of upbeat holiday sales.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp BK.N slid to the bottom of
S&P 500, down 7.2%, after the custodian bank missed estimates
for quarterly profit. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.48-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 3.55-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 67 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 131 new highs and one new low.