NEW YORK, Nov 5 — US stocks rose yesterday, hitting record highs again on hopes of a US-China trade deal and an improving domestic economy.

US officials on Friday indicated that a trade deal with China could be signed this month, with risk sentiment also boosted by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross saying on Sunday that licences for US companies to sell components to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd would come “very shortly.”

In May, Huawei, the world's largest telecoms equipment provider, was put under a US blacklist citing national security concerns.

The technology sector gained, as trade-sensitive chip stocks rallied and also helped the Philadelphia Semiconductor index to a record high.

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Optimism about progress with China after Friday's market highs is “making it easier for investors to continue buying and climbing a wall of worry,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

Energy shares jumped along with gains in oil prices.

The third-quarter earnings season has been fairly upbeat, with the majority of S&P 500 companies beating profit expectations so far, according to Refinitiv data.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 91.11 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 27,438.47, the S&P 500 gained 11.02 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 3,077.93 and the Nasdaq Composite added 49.57 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,435.97.

Last week's interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, hopes of a trade deal and a better-than-feared October jobs growth report have been the main catalysts of the recent rally.

Financial stocks gained 0.90 per cent, helped by a 1.2 per cent rise in shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc after it topped estimates for quarterly operating profit.

Limiting the day's gains was a roughly 3 per cent drop in shares of McDonald's Corp, which dismissed Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook over a consensual relationship with an employee.

Under Armour Inc fell more than 19 per cent as the sportswear maker lowered its full-year revenue forecast for a second straight time this year, a day after it confirmed a federal probe related to its accounting practices.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.64-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.75-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 65 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 134 new highs and 34 new lows.— Reuters