* Nvidia ( NVDA ) gains following report U.S. clears China chip

sales

* Cisco ( CSCO ) surges to record high after lifting forecast

* China to order 200 Boeing ( BA ) jets - Trump

* Cerebras jumps 90% above offer price in debut

(Updates to market close)

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on

Thursday, lifted by a rally in tech stocks as investors absorbed

generally solid economic data and watched for developments from

Beijing, where U.S. President Trump was engaged in a high-stakes

meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

All three major U.S. stock indexes gained ground, with the

S&P 500 and the Nasdaq setting their latest in a series of

record closing highs.

"Everybody's asking the same question: how much longer does

this (rally) go on? There's a lot of people that are loving this

rally, but they're also antsy at the same time," said Robert

Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield,

Connecticut. "You have to be in it to win it, not just sitting

on the sidelines watching the market go to all-time highs."

Trump attended the summit along with an entourage that

included Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Jensen Huang, chief

executive of artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA ).

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares closed sharply higher after the U.S. cleared

the sales of the company's H200 chips to Chinese firms.

The summit between Trump and Xi is intended to hash out a

broad array of issues, including trade, U.S. arms sales to

Taiwan and the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway,

through which Asia gets much of its crude, has been effectively

shut down during the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

"Obviously, these are very high stakes meetings," said

Michael Monaghan, portfolio manager at Founder ETFs in Dallas.

"It is certainly great power competition, but I think that these

two economies will be better off working together."

"I'm happy to see the two leaders collaborating, a tone of

collaboration, and hopefully we'll see that follow through in

long-term agreements," Monaghan added.

On the economic front, retail sales were in line with

expectations, but propped up by rising gasoline prices resulting

from the Iran war. Gasoline was largely responsible for the

biggest jump in import prices since October 2022.

A series of inflation reports this week showed the risk of

spiking energy costs metastasizing to other goods and services,

extinguishing hopes for near-term rate cuts from the U.S.

Federal Reserve.

Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid called inflation

the most "pressing risk" to the U.S. economy, which he

characterizes as "resilient." While Schmid is not a voter on

monetary policy this year, his remarks reflect the view of the

Fed's hawkish wing.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 57.39 points, or 0.77%, to end at 7,501.64 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 232.88 points, or

0.88%, to 26,635.83. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 374.79 points, or 0.75%, to 50,067.99.

Cisco ( CSCO ) surged to an all-time high after the computer

networking giant announced nearly 4,000 job cuts as part of a

restructuring scheme, and raised its annual revenue forecast.

U.S.-listed shares of tech infrastructure firm Nebius Group ( NBIS )

rose after Northland Capital raised its target price by

15.3% to $248 per share.

China has agreed to buy 200 jets from Boeing ( BA ),

President Trump told Fox News. Even so, the planemaker's stock

closed lower.

Cerebras jumped nearly 90% above its offer price in

the chipmaker's U.S. market debut.