US STOCKS-Trade deal hopes, earnings propel Wall St to another record high

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* Kudlow says U.S., China getting close to trade deal
* Applied Materials jumps on strong forecast
* S&P 500 on track for six weeks of gains
* Data shows domestic retail sales rebound in October
* Indexes up: Dow 0.54%, S&P 0.56%, Nasdaq 0.59%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes hit fresh
record highs on Friday, as optimism related to U.S.-China trade
talks and solid earnings from semiconductor industry bellwether
Applied Materials boosted risk appetite.
Shares in Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O jumped 9.3% and
pushed the Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX to an
all-time high after the chip gear maker forecast first-quarter
results above estimates. Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher. Healthcare
shares .SPXHC gained 1.3% and provided the biggest boost
followed by the trade-sensitive technology sector .SPLRCT ,
which rose 0.65%.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said late on
Thursday that the world's two largest economies were getting
close to a trade agreement, citing what he called very
constructive talks with Beijing. Adding to the upbeat mood, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
said there would be a call between U.S. and Chinese officials
later on Friday. "We are definitely headed in the right direction with regard
to trade," said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at GlobAlt in
Atlanta.
"Although there was some skittishness ... the equity market
hasn't shown much of a pull back and we are still making those
highs."
Wall Street's main indexes have been powered recently by
hopes of a trade deal, largely better-than-expected
third-quarter earnings and a third interest rate cut by the
Federal Reserve.
The benchmark S&P 500 index was on course to post its sixth
weekly percentage rise.
Data showed U.S. retail sales rebounded in October, but
consumers cut back on purchases of big-ticket household items
and clothing, which could temper expectations for a strong
holiday shopping season. The report comes a day after the benchmark S&P hit an
all-time closing high after retail giant Walmart Inc's WMT.N
robust earnings. At 12:33 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 149.99 points, or 0.54%, at 27,931.95, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 17.36 points, or 0.56%, at 3,113.99 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 49.83 points, or 0.59%, at 8,528.84.
Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O gained 1.1% after Mizuho upgraded its
rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral", while JP Morgan
raised its price target. But Nvidia Corp NVDA.O fell 2.3% as the company said it
expects its gaming chip business to be impacted by seasonal
weakness in the fourth quarter. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.00-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.69-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 46 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 96 new highs and 84 new lows.