US STOCKS-Dow, S&P up on retails, consumer data; Nasdaq lags

                                

                                
 * Nov retail sales up for 2nd month, higher-than-expected
                                
 * Consumer sentiment improves in early Dec
                                
 * National Semiconductor weighs on tech shares
                                
 * Dow up 0.6 pct, S&P up 0.4 pct, Nasdaq flat
                                
  * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to late afternoon; changes byline)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 rose on
Friday as a stronger-than-expected retail sales for November
reinforced investors' confidence in a steady recovery of the
economy.
                                
 But tech stocks were pressured by disappointing quarterly
results from a semiconductor company, erasing gains for the
Nasdaq.
                                
 Total retail sales rose for the second straight month in
November for the the largest advance since August, data from
the Commerce Department said. For details, see
[ID:nN11156738].
                                
 A separate report showed that consumer sentiment improved
in early December, also raising hopes of a self-sustaining
economic recovery.
                                
 "Today is a repeat of prior days, with economic data
showing recession is bottoming out and recovery is here," said
Rick Lake, portfolio manager of the Aston/Lake Partners LASSO
Alternatives Fund in Greenwich, Connecticut.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 63.78
points, or 0.61 percent, at 10,469.61. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> gained 4.22 points, or 0.38 percent, at
1,106.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 0.67
point, or 0.03 percent, at 2,190.19.
                                
 The S&P Retail index <.RLX> was up 1 percent while the S&P
Consumer Discretionary sector <.GSPD> gained 0.8 percent.
                                
 Mining stocks also advanced after JPMorgan lifted its price
target on five companies in the sector, including Alcoa Inc
<AA.N> and Freeport McMoRan <FCX.N>. [ID:nWNBB0429]
                                
 Alcoa shares surged 7 percent to $14.43 and were the top
percentage gainer among Dow components.
                                
 United Technologies Corp <UTX.N>  gained 2.4 percent to
$69.59 and provided the Dow's biggest lift after the company
said it expects profits to rise about 10 percent in 2010 on
cost cuts. [ID:nN10202403]
                                
 But National Semiconductor <NSM.N> fell 4.6 percent to
$14.58 a day after the company posted results that prompted
concerns about its ability to regain market share. The
Philadelphia semiconductor index <.SOXX> fell 1.0 percent. For
details, see [ID:nN10142026]
                                
 Apple Inc <AAPL.O> fell 1 percent to $194.46 after the tech
bellwether said it had filed a countersuit against Nokia Corp
<NOK1V.HE> <NOK.N>, claiming the cellphone maker was infringing
upon Apple patents. [ID:nN11260646]
                                
 A stronger U.S. dollar, which rose 0.7 percent against a
basket of currencies, also caused a headwind for equities.
Stocks and the greenback have had an inverse relationship for
about nine months.
                                
 That inverse correlation partly reflects the so-called
carry trade, whereby investors borrow a currency cheaply in
order to invest in higher-yielding assets. The unwinding of
dollar carry-trades puts pressure on equities as investors sold
high-yielding assets to cover short positions in the
dollar.
 (Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Kenneth Barry)