US STOCKS-Wall St touches fresh highs on China data, trade deal boost

* All 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the black
* Trade-exposed Apple, tech stocks gain
* Boeing slips on 737 MAX production concerns
* Indexes up: Dow 0.6%, S&P 0.8%, Nasdaq 1%,

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By Uday Sampath Kumar
Dec 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street hit record highs for the
third straight session on Monday, as upbeat domestic data from
China and cooling trade tensions between Washington and Beijing
improved investor outlook on global economic growth.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose about 2%, providing the biggest
boost to the S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC , as tariffs
scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 15 on a variety of consumer
products including iPhones were suspended.
Chipmakers, among the most trade sensitive stocks, were also
higher with the Philadelphia chip index .SOX up 1.7%. The
technology sector .SPLRCT led gains among the 11 major S&P
sectors.
Data showed China's industrial output and retail sales
growth accelerated in November, suggesting resilience in the
Chinese economy to a trade war that has been a concern for
global investors for over 1-1/2 years. Adding to optimism, U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer said on Sunday an interim trade deal was "totally
done" and expected that it would nearly double U.S. exports to
China over the next two years. "It's very much of a trade-centric push for equities to move
higher, capping a very strong year," said Peter Kenny, founder,
Kenny's Commentary LLC and Strategic Board Solutions LLC in New
York.
"We are seeing themes work together to really drive some
confidence in the year end".
Three interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year,
along with encouraging economic data has pushed the main U.S.
stock indexes to record levels. The benchmark index is up about
27% this year, its best annual percentage gain in six.
The benchmark European stock index .STOXX also hit an
all-time high for the first time in four years on Monday, which
had a positive impact on investor confidence globally, Kenny
said.
At 11:48 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 170.95 points, or 0.61%, at 28,306.33, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 26.30 points, or 0.83%, at 3,195.10 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 90.60 points, or 1.04%, at 8,825.48.
Boeing Co BA.N fell 3.3%, capping gains on the Dow, after
reports the planemaker was considering whether to cut or halt
production of its grounded 737 MAX aircraft. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 3.16-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.28-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 70 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 183 new highs and 37 new lows.