Wall Street rises as Trump inauguration kicks off

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose amid gains across sectors on Friday as Donald Trump gets set to become the 45th president of the United States.

Trump will be sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in Washington. Investors will focus on Trump's inaugural speech to get more insight into his economic policies.

"There is a lot of optimism and renewed hope for better things to come," said Sean O'Hara, president of Pacer ETFs.

"People view soon-to-be President Trump as a person who understands the way businesses work."

Trump's campaign promises of tax and regulatory reforms and higher infrastructure spending had driven Wall Street to multiple highs post-election. However, the Trump trade had been unraveling in recent weeks as investors wait to see how he will carry out his ambitious plans.

The S&P 500 has fallen by a median 2.7 percent in the month after each new president has taken the keys to the White House since Herbert Hoover did so in January 1929, according to a Reuters analysis.

The dollar index slipped into negative territory, while a 2 percent rise in oil prices pushed up energy stocks.

At 10:55 a.m. ET (1555 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 92.05 points, or 0.47 percent, at 19,824.45, and was on track to snap a five-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 was up 10.04 points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,273.73 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 19.25 points, or 0.35 percent, at 5,559.33.

Ten of the 11 major S&P indexes were higher, with technology giving the biggest bump to the broader index. Industrials, which have risen for the past two days, were down 0.2 percent.

A thrush of quarterly earnings reports from Dow components also kept investors busy. Procter & Gamble was the top stock on the S&P and the Dow, rising 3.6 percent after the consumer products maker reported quarterly sales and profit above expectations.

Merck rose 3.7 percent to $65.59 after Bristol-Myers said it would not seek accelerated U.S. approval for a combination of its two immunotherapy drugs as an initial treatment for lung cancer, giving Merck an advantage in the lucrative market. Bristol-Myers' stock was down 9.2 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,901 to 859. On the Nasdaq, 1,674 issues rose and 944 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 19 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 53 new highs and 20 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)