US STOCKS-Wall St at record levels after strong U.S., China data

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* U.S. housing starts race to 13-year high in December
* Schlumberger rises after Q4 earnings beat
* J B Hunt results drag down Dow Transports index
* Indexes up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.18%, Nasdaq 0.02%

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By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes nudged higher to fresh
record levels on Friday after strong housing data and
indications of resilience in the Chinese economy raised hopes of
a rebound in global growth.
Investor sentiment has brightened this week after the
world's top two economies took the first step in calling a truce
to their 18-month tariff dispute by sealing a Phase 1 trade
deal. Wall Street's three main indexes were on track to end the
week with gains of over 1.5%.
Demand for risky assets improved after data showed China
ended 2019 on a somewhat firmer note, even as economic growth
cooled to its weakest in nearly 30 years in the last year.
Meanwhile, U.S. homebuilding surged to a 13-year high in
December, suggesting the housing market recovery was back on
track amid low mortgage rates. "Housing reports have come out quite positive, the job
growth continues to be healthy and all the worries we had about
a recession seem to have passed," said Brad McMillan, chief
investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, an
independent broker-dealer.
"That being the case, the only worry is earnings, but they
seem to be coming out quite well so far."
Analysts expect profits at S&P 500 companies to drop 0.8% in
the fourth quarter, but they call for 5.8% growth in the first
quarter of 2020, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
At 11:37 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 0.12% to 29,331.67.
The S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.18% to 3,322.76 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 0.02% at 9,359.01.
After an upbeat showing from banks earlier this week,
oilfield service provider Schlumberger NV SLB.N reported a
slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit, sending its
shares up 1.3%. Google-parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O rose 0.8%, extending
gains after it became the fourth U.S. company to top a market
value of $1 trillion on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Transports index .DJT fell 0.3% after
disappointing earnings from J B Hunt Transport Services Inc
JBHT.O and CSX Corp CSX.O .
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.11-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.12-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 118 new 52-week highs and no new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 177 new highs and seven new
lows.