US STOCKS-Wall Street posts records amid trade optimism; Boeing juices Dow

* Boeing shares rise after CEO exit
* Apache jumps after joint venture with Total
* S&P 500 boosted by energy, industrials
* Indexes rise: Dow 0.34%, S&P 0.09%, Nasdaq 0.23%

(Updates with close of U.S. market)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Dec 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes posted record
closing highs on Monday after President Donald Trump said an
initial U.S.-China trade pact would be signed soon, while Boeing
gave the Dow a big boost after the planemaker ousted its chief
executive officer.
Boeing Co BA.N shares, which have a particularly big
influence on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 2.9% and
also lifted the S&P 500 industrials sector .SPLRCI . CEO Dennis
Muilenburg's exit followed a prolonged crisis in which Boeing
halted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner following
two fatal crashes. Trump over the weekend said the United States and China
would "very shortly" sign their so-called Phase 1 trade pact,
which was announced earlier this month and has helped propel the
U.S. stock market to records. The S&P 500 notched a record closing high for a third
straight session on Monday and hit an intraday all-time high for
an eighth straight session. The Nasdaq closed at a record high
for an eighth straight session.
“The stream of news has continued to favor the bullish bias,
so there really hasn't been a reason for people to sell, and
you've got that fear of missing out that has kind of kicked in
the last month and a half," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive
officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana.
Additionally, China will lower tariffs on products ranging
from frozen pork and avocado to some types of semiconductors
next year. "The key for businesses is that tariffs may not escalate
further from this point," said Mona Mahajan, U.S. investment
strategist with Allianz Global Investors in New York. "That's
critical for business confidence and the overall backdrop in
which they're operating."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 96.44 points,
or 0.34%, to 28,551.53, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 2.79 points,
or 0.09%, to 3,224.01 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
20.69 points, or 0.23%, to 8,945.65.
Energy .SPNY and industrials were the best-performing S&P
500 sectors, while utilities .SPLRCU lagged the most.
Trading volume is expected to be sparse in a trading week
shortened by the Christmas holiday. On Monday, roughly 5.9
billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, well below the
7.2 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.
The benchmark S&P 500 has climbed more than 28% so far in
2019, helped by improving investor sentiment over trade
relations, interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and
optimism the economy will avoid a severe downturn at least in
the near term.
Data on Monday showed new orders for U.S.-made capital goods
barely rose in November and shipments fell, suggesting business
investment will probably remain a drag on economic growth in the
fourth quarter. In other company news, Apache Corp APA.N shares soared
17.3% after it and French rival Total TOTF.PA announced a
joint venture to develop a project off Suriname in a deal that
gives the U.S. oil and gas producer a cash injection.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.23-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.07-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 47 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 142 new highs and 37 new lows.