Wall Street drifts higher on German data; S&P touches record

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced modestly on Friday, as the S&P 500 scaled a new intraday record, buoyed by upbeat German growth data.

Germany grew 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter, more than double the expected 0.3 percent, pointing to a stronger 2015 for the region's biggest economy.

U.S. import prices tumbled 2.8 percent in January, the largest decline since December 2008 and the seventh straight month of declines, indicating inflation pressures could remain subdued, while consumer sentiment fell from an 11-year high.

Equities have rallied this week after a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia, and apparent progress on a deal on Greek debt in the euro zone. For the week, the Dow <.DJI> is up 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 <.SPX> is up 1.8 percent and the Nasdaq <.IXIC> is up 2.5 percent.

"The tape is news sensitive, the overall feel is that headline risk is waning and adding to the belief the risk-on mindset is justified," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC  in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

"We?ve had strong follow through with an overall better feeling about the geopolitical situation."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 42.95 points, or 0.24 percent, to 18,015.33, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 3.05 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,091.53 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 5.43 points, or 0.11 percent, to 4,863.04.

The S&P hit an intraday record of 2093.79, surpassing its prior record set on Dec. 29.

Still, gains may be checked on Friday with investors reluctant to make big bets ahead of an extended holiday weekend. U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.

A Greek government spokesman said the country will make every effort to reach a deal at Monday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers on how to transition to a new support program, but Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said he was "very pessimistic" about a final deal being reached by Monday.

U.S.-listed shares of National Bank of Greece jumped 11.2 percent to $1.59.

Kraft Foods lost 3.3 percent to $63.97 after the company posted quarterly results and said its chief financial officer would leave her role and two other senior executives would depart from the company.

Of the 391 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, about 71.1 percent have topped profit expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, while 57.5 percent have beaten on revenue. The earnings growth rate for the quarter is 6.6 percent, down from an 11.2 percent expectation on Oct. 1, but up from 4.2 percent expected on Jan. 1.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,755 to 1,108, for a 1.58-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,422 issues rose and 1,079 fell for a 1.32-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The benchmark S&P 500 index posted 66 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 15 new lows.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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