US STOCKS-Wall St higher on signs of recovery, Nasdaq hits record high

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* Nasdaq scales fifth record high this month
* Nike rises as brokerages boost price targets
* Spirit AeroSystems falls after seeking relief from lenders
* Indexes up: Dow 0.88%, S&P 0.94%, Nasdaq 1.36%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
June 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three major indexes rose
on Tuesday as improving economic data and the prospect of more
stimulus bolstered hopes of a swift recovery, while a jump in
technology shares powered the Nasdaq to another record high.
White House advisor Larry Kudlow said tax rebates and direct
mail checks are on the table in the next coronavirus relief
bill. The Nasdaq hit a fifth record high this month with Apple Inc
AAPL.O providing the biggest boost after at least three
brokerages raised their price targets, a day after the iPhone
maker said it would use its own chips for Mac computers.
The pace of contraction in U.S. manufacturing and services
sectors slowed in June as businesses reopened after the health
crisis resulted in a lockdown in mid-March. Another set of data showed new home sales jumped 16.6% in
May, blowing past estimates of a 2.9% rise. "The market seems to be in a liquidity-driven FOMO (fear of
missing out) mode where Fed has your back and U.S. government
will probably come back to the table in the next two to three
weeks to continue to do more stimulus," said Nate Fischer, chief
investment strategist at Strategic Wealth Partners in Cleveland,
Ohio.
"It would be healthy for the market to probably chop
sideways here in the next couple weeks and then in earning
season see if companies really feel as bullish as the markets."
Global equity markets were also boosted by President Donald
Trump's assurance that the Phase 1 trade agreement with China
was "fully intact" after adviser Peter Navarro sparked confusion
by saying the deal was over. While U.S.-China tensions have been a cause for concern,
monetary and fiscal support worth trillions of dollars has in
part powered the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX , with the index just
about 7% below its Feb. 19 record high.
Nine of the 11 major sub-indexes were higher with technology
.SPLRCT and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD posting the
steepest gains. The defensive real estate .SPLRCR and
utilities .SPLRCU slipped.
At 12:40 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 229.28 points, or 0.88%, at 26,254.24, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 29.26 points, or 0.94%, at 3,147.12. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 137.03 points, or 1.36%, at 10,193.50.
Nike Inc NKE.N rose 2.3% as brokerages raised their price
targets ahead of quarterly results on Thursday.
Boeing Co's BA.N top supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings
SPR.N slipped 14.9% after it said it was seeking relief from
lenders as its finances were stretched by the COVID-19 pandemic
and a 737 MAX production halt. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.79-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.63-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 23 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 131 new highs and six new lows.