US STOCKS-Trade optimism propels S&P 500, Nasdaq to record highs; Apple biggest boost

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* U.S.-China 'very close' to trade deal - report
* Trade-sensitive chip stocks surge
* Tiffany jumps after $16.2 bln buyout offer from LVMH
* TD Ameritrade rises on $26 bln deal with Charles Schwab
* Indexes up: Dow 0.54%, S&P 0.67%, Nasdaq 1.15%

(Updates to open)
By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 25 (Reuters) - Apple Inc and semiconductor stocks
powered the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes to record highs on
Monday, after a report signaled that the United States and China
were nearing a trade truce, with sentiment also buoyed by a raft
of mega deals.
Trade-sensitive Intel Corp INTC.O and Applied Materials
Inc AMAT.O helped lift the Philadelphia Semiconductor index
.SOX 2.1% as a Chinese state-backed tabloid said Beijing and
Washington were "very close" to an initial pact. That added to optimism from comments over the weekend by a
top U.S. official that an agreement was still possible by the
end of the year, dispelling fears that the negotiations could
carry on into 2020. "The mood is pretty positive at this point," said Scott
Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg,
Florida.
"You got mergers today, which are typically positive for the
market, and I think you still have some optimism that there's
going to be a trade deal."
Trade deal hopes and robust third-quarter corporate earnings
have helped Wall Street's main indexes hit record highs this
month.
Gains on Monday were broad-based, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq
.IXIC firming over 1% and 10 of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors
higher. Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 1.3% and was the biggest boost
to all the three main indexes.
At 10:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 149.97 points, or 0.54%, at 28,025.59, while the S&P 500
.SPX was up 20.90 points, or 0.67%, at 3,131.19. The Nasdaq
Composite was up 98.30 points at 8,618.19.
In M&As, Tiffany & Co TIF.N jumped 6.2% after the luxury
jeweler agreed to a sweetened $16.2 billion deal with France's
LVMH LVMH.PA . U.S. discount brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp AMTD.O
was up 6% after larger rival Charles Schwab Corp SCHW.N said
it would buy the company in an all-stock deal valued at about
$26 billion. Schwab was up about 1.5%.
EBay Inc EBAY.O gained 1.3% after the e-commerce major
said it would sell ticketing unit StubHub to ticket reseller
Viagogo for $4.05 billion in cash. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.72-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 3.69-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 29 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 70 new highs and 34 new lows.