US STOCKS-Wall St climbs on vaccine bets, Goldman results

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* Goldman Sachs rises as trading revenue doubles
* Energy, industrial, financial stocks among leaders
* Indexes: Dow +0.8%, S&P 500 +0.9%, Nasdaq +0.7%

(Updates to afternoon trade)
By Noel Randewich
July 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday, with
the S&P 500 approaching its highest level in more than four
months after promising early data for a potential COVID-19
vaccine and a strong quarterly report from Goldman Sachs.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O surged 9.2% after a small-scale study
showed its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of
virus-killing antibodies. Travel-related stocks Carnival Corp CCL.N , Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd RCL.N , Marriott International MAR.O and Wynn
Resorts WYNN.O rose between 7% and 20%, with the S&P 1500
airlines index .SPCOMAIR up 10.0%.
The S&P 500 was on track to beat the technology-heavy Nasdaq
Composite for a fourth straight session, a feat scored only
twice since Wall Street launched its massive recovery last
March. Gains for the Nasdaq were capped by online retail giant
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , video streaming platform Netflix Inc
NFLX.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O which slipped after surging
to record highs recently.
"The Moderna news woke everybody up again that this is not
going to last forever, and there is light at the end of the
tunnel. That is why you are seeing such a strong move today into
those economically sensitive stocks," said Tim Ghriskey, Chief
Investment Strategist Inverness Counsel in New York.
Adding to investors' enthusiasm, the Federal Reserve's Beige
Book survey showed U.S. businesses saw an uptick in activity
into the beginning of July as states eased restrictions to
contain the novel coronavirus pandemic, but that but many were
uncertain about the economic outlook. However, the United States has failed to control the
coronavirus and there is a high level of uncertainty over how
much the pandemic will affect the economy, Philadelphia Federal
Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said, as a number of U.S.
sunbelt states reported a surge in COVID-19 cases recently.
The three main U.S. stock indexes have recouped most of
their losses from the coronavirus-led slump, with a raft of
stimulus measures and encouraging economic data lifting the S&P
500 to about 5% below its record high hit in February.
At 2:28 p.m. ET (1828 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI was up 0.79% at 26,854.26 points, while the S&P 500
.SPX gained 0.94% to 3,227.45.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.66% to 10,558.29.
Goldman Sachs GS.N rose 1.2% after it said its trading
revenue doubled in the second quarter, driven by big swings in
stock and bond markets since March. Morgan Stanley MS.N gained 1.2% and Bank of America
BAC.N rose 1.4% ahead of their results on Thursday. The
broader banking index .SPXBK climbed 2.3%.
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N fell 2.3% after warning of
rising costs later this year as Americans catch up on less
urgent surgeries halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
5.03-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 4.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and two new lows.