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* Boeing rises after board establishes safety committee
* Philip Morris jumps on calling off Altria merger
* Aug. new home sales rise more than expected
* Indexes up: Dow 0.49%, S&P 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.18%
(Adds details, updates quote and numbers)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ambar Warrick
Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes rose on Wednesday
after President Donald Trump said a trade deal with China could
happen sooner than expected, while Nike's shares hit a record
high on upbeat quarterly results.
Wall Street had a sluggish start after Democratic lawmakers
moved to launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump, adding fresh
uncertainty for markets already roiled by the U.S.-China trade
tussle and worries over slowing global economic growth.
Trump's comments were in contrast to his harsh rhetoric on
Tuesday on the trade dispute, which rattled global stock markets
on Wednesday.
"This is just part of his rhetoric, it changes one day to
the next. We just have to wait and see if this will really
happen," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan
Capital Securities in New York.
Nike Inc NKE.N shares jumped 5.1% to a record high, and
were among the top boosts to the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX after the company's first-quarter
results beat market expectations.
Footwear retailer Foot Locker Inc FL.N gained 3.3%.
Shares in Philip Morris PM.N surged 6.2% after the tobacco
company called off merger talks with Altria Group Inc MO.N and
said it would instead focus on the U.S. launch of its
tobacco-heating product, iQOS. Boeing Co BA.N rose 1.7%, after the aircraft maker said it
created a new permanent safety committee in the aftermath of two
fatal 737 MAX crashes. At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 132.49 points, or 0.49%, at 26,940.26, while the S&P 500
.SPX was up 5.87 points, or 0.20%, at 2,972.47. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 14.06 points, or 0.18%, at 8,007.69.
Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC.N rose 6.3% and was among the
top gainers on the S&P 500 after activist investor Elliott
Management renewed its demand for splitting into three
companies.
Chipmaker Broadcom Inc AVGO.O dropped 3.3% and was the
biggest loser on the S&P 500 after it priced an upsized offering
of convertible preferred stock. Data showed that sales of new U.S. single-family homes
rebounded more than expected in August, a sign that the
struggling housing market was starting to get a lift from lower
borrowing rates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.13-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 4 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 80 new lows.