US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow edge up to records; Nasdaq win streak at risk

* Nasdaq slipping after 11 days of gains
* China's industrial profits grow at fastest in 8 months
* Amazon extends Thursday gains on online holiday sales data
* Indexes: Dow up 0.18%, S&P up 0.04%, Nasdaq down 0.12%

(Updates with mid-afternoon trading)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Dec 27 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow industrials edged
higher to fresh records on Friday, as a year-end rally fueled by
optimism over an initial U.S.-China trade deal chugged along.
The Nasdaq was slightly lower, however, putting the
tech-heavy index on pace to snap its 11-session streak of gains.
With only a few days left for the year, the benchmark S&P
500 has climbed more than 29% so far in 2019, its biggest annual
percentage gain since 2013.
Investor expectations that the United States and China will
soon sign a Phase 1 trade deal has added momentum to the stock
market heading into 2020.
"You've got expectations that the Phase 1 trade agreement is
signed in early to mid January," said James Ragan, director of
wealth management research at D.A. Davidson.
"In a situation where you have got the trade expectation
that could help stimulate business spending next year, still low
interest rates and the strong consumer. That's a recipe for
equity values to continue to move higher," Ragan said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 51.68 points,
or 0.18%, to 28,673.07, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.39 points,
or 0.04%, to 3,241.3 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
10.87 points, or 0.12%, to 9,011.53.
Among S&P 500 sectors, consumer staples .SPLRCS , real
estate .SPLRCR and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD led the
way.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O rose 0.3%, building on
strong gains a day earlier when a report showed U.S. shoppers
spent more online during the holiday shopping season than in
2018. Financials .SPSY and energy .SPNY lagged among the
sectors.
Aside from optimism over trade relations, the stock market
has been lifted by interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and
better than feared economic data and corporate profits.
Data on Friday showed profits at China's industrial firms
grew at the fastest pace in eight months in November, but broad
weakness in the country's domestic demand remains a risk for
company earnings next year. Trading volume has been thin during the holiday shortened
week and could continue to be sparse through the New Year's
holiday next Wednesday.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.30-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 57 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 83 new highs and 18 new lows.

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