US STOCKS-Wall Street flat; set for strong weekly gains on trade optimism

By Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap

May 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were subdued on Friday, but were still on track for robust weekly gains buoyed by a U.S.-China tariff truce and cooling inflation, while focus was on a pivotal vote on President Donald Trump's tax legislations.

U.S. equities lost some steam after a measure of consumer sentiment by the University of Michigan slipped to 50.8 for May, compared with April's 52.2, while one-year inflation expectations surged to 7.3% from 6.5%.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington cautioned that Friday's planned vote on the tax bill might be delayed due to opposition to the measure.

At 10:10 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 7.64 points, or 0.02%, to 42,330.39, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 5.46 points, or 0.09%, to 5,922.39 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 15.17 points, or 0.08%, to 19,127.49.

All three main indexes were poised for weekly gains.

The market found its footing earlier in the week, rallying on Monday and Tuesday after Washington and Beijing agreed to a 90-day pause in their escalating trade war.

As a result, the S&P 500 .SPX catapulted back into the green year-to-date – the first time it is in positive territory since late February. Still, the benchmark index remains about 4% shy of its all-time peak.

"The combination of a deal with the UK and taking a step back from the untenable China tariffs certainly lays out a road map that we can get multiple bilateral trade deals accomplished and that's the largest of the positive catalyst," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had announced a limited bilateral trade agreement last week.

Data from earlier in the week showed U.S. retail sales growth losing steam in April, while consumer prices staged a moderate rebound.

Focus would also be on comments from Federal Reserve policymakers, with at least two officials including Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin slated to speak throughout the day.

Most megacap and growth stocks swung higher, with Alphabet GOOGL.O leading gains with a 2.4% rise.

Big Tech was one of the biggest drivers on Wall Street this week. The information technology sector .SPLRCT was heading towards an 8% gain, a weekly jump echoing the surge seen when traders first seized on clear signals the White House was ready to dial back its trade hostilities with Beijing.

Shares of UnitedHealth UNH.N rose 1.4% after a near 11% drop in the last session, when the stock was rocked after a report the U.S. Department of Justice had begun a criminal investigation into the insurer.

Applied Materials AMAT.O slipped 6.6% after the chipmaking equipment maker missed estimates for second-quarter revenue.

Charter Communications CHTR.O rose 3% after the media company said it would buy privately held rival Cox Communications for $21.9 billion.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.29-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 42 new highs and 42 new lows.