US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq hit records amid trade optimism; Boeing boosts Dow

* Boeing shares rise after CEO exit
* Apache jumps after joint venture with Total
* S&P 500 boosted by energy, industrials
* Indexes rise: Dow 0.38%, S&P 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.28%

(Updates with mid-afternoon trading)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Dec 23 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record
highs on Monday after President Donald Trump said an initial
U.S.-China trade pact would be signed soon, while Boeing was a
big boost to the Dow after the planemaker ousted its chief
executive officer.
Boeing Co BA.N shares, which have a particularly big
influence on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 2.7% and
also lifted the S&P 500 industrials sector .SPLRCI . CEO Dennis
Muilenburg's exit followed a prolonged crisis that has seen
Boeing halt production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner
following two fatal crashes. Trump over the weekend said the United States and China
would "very shortly" sign their so-called Phase 1 trade pact,
which was announced earlier this month and has helped propel the
U.S. stock market to records. The S&P 500 hit an intraday
all-time high for an eighth straight session on Monday.
Additionally, China will lower tariffs on products ranging
from frozen pork and avocado to some types of semiconductors
next year. “It's a continuation of some of the positive sentiment we
have felt in markets in part driven by the removal of some of
the big overhangs we had earlier this year, including U.S.-China
trade,” said Mona Mahajan, U.S. investment strategist with
Allianz Global Investors in New York.
"The key for businesses is that tariffs may not escalate
further from this point," Mahajan said. "That's critical for
business confidence and the overall backdrop in which they're
operating."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 107.18 points,
or 0.38%, to 28,562.27, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.36 points,
or 0.14%, to 3,225.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
25.36 points, or 0.28%, to 8,950.32.
Energy .SPNY and industrials were the best-performing S&P
500 sectors, while utilities .SPLRCU lagged the most.
The benchmark S&P 500 has climbed more than 28% so far in
2019, helped by improving investor sentiment over trade
relations, interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, and
optimism the economy will avoid a severe downturn at least in
the near term.
Data on Monday showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital
goods barely rose in November and shipments fell, suggesting
business investment will probably remain a drag on economic
growth in the fourth quarter. In other company news, Apache Corp APA.N shares soared
15.5% after it and French rival Total TOTF.PA announced a
joint venture to develop a project off Suriname, in a deal that
gives the U.S. oil and gas producer a cash injection.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.22-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.11-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 45 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 129 new highs and 30 new lows.