US STOCKS-Wall Street rises as stimulus hopes counter bleak jobs data

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* TSMC results power semiconductor stocks
* Delta Air Lines CEO calls 2021 year of recovery
* Weekly jobless claims rise more than expected
* Biden to outline stimulus plan on Thursday evening
* Indexes up: Dow 0.25%, S&P 0.13%, Nasdaq 0.29%

(Updates market prices, adds commentary, NEW YORK dateline,
changes byline)
By Sinéad Carew
NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street gained ground on
Thursday, with the Dow and Nasdaq briefly touching record highs,
as investors' hopes for fresh fiscal stimulus ahead of
President-elect Joe Biden's pandemic aid proposal were countered
by weakening labor market conditions.
The Labor Department's weekly jobless report showed the
number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment
benefits increased more than expected last week, underscoring
the impact of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. However, the S&P 500 rose for the seventh time in nine
sessions as investors counted on Biden unveiling on Thursday
evening a stimulus plan that could exceed $1.5 trillion.
"There's a tug-of-war going on between the prospects for
further fiscal stimulus, as a result of Democratic control of
the Senate, and a jobs market that has a long way to go before
it heals," said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at
John Hancock Investment Management. "You have these competing
forces going on which are keeping markets range bound."
But Roland noted that disappointing jobs data could provide
"further fodder for Biden to potentially market this plan."
"Everybody's waiting to hear the details ... Whether it's $1
trillion or $2 trillion, that's a massive amount of fiscal
stimulus," she said.
Investors also seemed reassured after U.S. Federal Reserve
Chair Jerome Powell said an interest rate hike would not be
coming anytime time soon and pushed back against suggestions
that it might taper bond purchases any time soon. By 2:12 p.m. ET (1912 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI rose 77.52 points, or 0.25%, to 31,137.99, the
S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.95 points, or 0.13%, to 3,814.79 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 37.77 points, or 0.29%, to
13,166.72.
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors rose with
economically-sensitive energy .SPNY showing the biggest
percentage gains.
The domestically-focused small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT , as
well as the Dow Jones Transports index .DJT , considered a
barometer of economic health, both scaled all-time highs.
Helping the transport index was a 3.9% gain in Delta Air
Lines DAL.N after Chief Executive Ed Bastian forecast 2021 to
be "the year of recovery" after the coronavirus pandemic
prompted its first annual loss in 11 years. The S&P 1500 airlines index .SPCOMAIR added 4%.
President Donald Trump became the first president in U.S.
history to be impeached twice when the House voted 232-197 on
Wednesday to charge him with inciting riots at the Capitol. The
impeachment proceedings threaten to hang over the beginning of
Biden's term. While some investors worry about the impact impeachment
proceedings could on the stimulus boost, Max Gokhman, head of
asset allocation at Pacific Life Fund Advisors in Newport Beach,
California played down these fears.
"I don't think the delay (in fiscal aid) of a few weeks due
to impeachment trial is necessarily going to derail the further
economic boost that we're going to get from the stimulus," he
said.
The Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX was up 2.9% and
hit a record high with a big boost Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co Ltd TSM.N . The chip manufacturer's US shares
were up 9% after it announced its best-ever quarterly profit and
raised revenue and capital spending estimates. Investors were also waiting for the earnings season to kick
into full swing with results from JPMorgan JPM.N , Citigroup
C.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N slated for Friday.
First-quarter and 2021 corporate guidance will be key for
investors as new lockdowns threaten to push back a recovery in
corporate earnings, according to investment banks. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.99-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.86-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 45 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 325 new highs and three new lows.