Credit: Shutterstock photo* U.S. consumer prices unchanged in January
* Interest-rate sensitive financials rise
* Dish falls on bigger subscriber losses
By Amy Caren Daniel
Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks extended a rally from theprior session on Wednesday, powered by rising expectations thatthe United States and China could strike a deal during theirongoing trade talks, with benign inflation data also liftingsentiment.
"So far, so good," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchinsaid about the U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing, a day afterPresident Donald Trump said he would be willing to let a March 1deadline slide if the two sides were close to a deal.
Trade-sensitive industrials .SPLRCI rose 0.5 percent,while chipmakers, which depend on China for a large portion oftheir revenue, also gained, with the Philadelphia chip index .SOX up 0.4 percent.
"The trade talks are going well. The main focus today is ontrade and the government shutdown and both of those things seemto be moving nicely," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist atNational Securities in New York.
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on bipartisanlegislation to fund the government, including border security,on Thursday, ahead of a Friday deadline to avert another partialshutdown of federal agencies.
It was still not immediately clear whether Trump would signthe deal, but a source familiar with the situation said helikely would.
U.S. consumer prices were unchanged for a third straightmonth in January, leading to the smallest annual increase ininflation in more than 1-1/2 years, which could allow theFederal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for awhile.
"Benign inflation numbers are certainly going to be viewedas a positive," Hogan said.
The data pushed U.S. treasury yields higher, helping thefinancials sector .SPSY rise 0.90, which provided the biggestboost to the S&P 500 index .SPX .
At 11:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 193.35 points, or 0.76 percent, at 25,619.11. The S&P 500 .SPX was up 15.39 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,760.12 and theNasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 28.37 points, or 0.38 percent,at 7,442.99.
Only the utilities sector .SPLRCU was trading lower.
Analysts' expectations for first-quarter profit have turnedsour, after a largely upbeat fourth-quarter earnings. They nowestimate current-quarter profit to decline 0.3 percent, whichwould be the first loss since the second quarter of 2016.
Dish Network CorpDISH.O dropped 7.4 percent, the mostamong S&P companies, after the U.S. satellite TV serviceprovider lost more-than-expected pay-TV subscribers in thefourth quarter.
TripAdvisor IncTRIP.O was a close second, down 7.3percent as the online travel company's quarterly profit missedestimates.
Activision Blizzard IncATVI.O rose 5.2 percent after thevideogame maker announced a share buyback plan, job cuts andinvestments to boost its pipeline.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.94-to-1 ratioon the NYSE and by a 1.56-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and no new low,while the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and nine new lows. (Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel and Shreyashi Sanyal inBengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) ((Amy.CarenDaniel@thomsonreuters.com ; within U.S.+1-646-223-8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 9250 ; ReutersMessaging: Amy.CarenDaniel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
