Wall St. higher as healthcare, consumer stocks rise

By Abhiram Nandakumar (Reuters) - Wall Street added to its gains in late morning trading on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track for its best week in a year, as healthcare and consumer stocks rose. The Dow Jones industrial average turned positive for the year, led by a 4.6 percent rise in Nike (N:NKE) which announced a $12 billion share buyback and a 2-for-1 share split. Healthcare <.SPXHC> was the top gainer among the 10 major S&P sectors, led by Allergan's (N:AGN) 3.3 percent increase. The drugmaker rose on reports that the U.S. Treasury's new tax inversion rules were unlikely to thwart its proposed deal with Pfizer (N:PFE). Earlier this week, minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's October meeting hardened expectations of a December rate hike but showed policymakers were cautious on further hikes. "I think with the lack of catalysts or a large news story, the market wants to move higher and should end the day higher," said Tim Courtney, CIO of Exencial Wealth Advisors. At 11:01 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) was up 124.67 points, or 0.70 percent, at 17,857.42, the S&P 500 (SPX) was up 10.54 points, or 0.51 percent, at 2,091.78 and the Nasdaq Composite index (IXIC) was up 27.02 points, or 0.53 percent, at 5,100.66. The energy sector <.SPNY> was the lone loser, shedding 0.77 percent. Abercrombie & Fitch (N:ANF) surged 19.3 percent to $23.25 after its quarterly profit more than doubled and same-store sales fell less than expected. Foot Locker (N:FL) rose 4.4 percent to $64.24 and Ross Stores (O:ROST) 7.8 percent to $49.82 after results. Intuit (O:INTU) was up 5.3 percent at $102.59 after the Tax-preparation software maker forecast full-year profit above estimates. Autodesk (O:ADSK) fell 4.5 percent to $59.60 after it posted a third-quarter loss. Sprint (N:S) fell 4 percent to $3.89 after the wireless carrier said it would raise about $1.1 billion in cash through a sale and lease-back deal with a company backed by Japan's SoftBank. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,925 to 977. On the Nasdaq, 1,753 issues rose and 835 fell. The S&P 500 index showed 29 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 59 new highs and 59 new lows.