(Updates with preliminary closing prices)

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

May 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on

Friday for their fifth straight daily advance, buoyed by the

U.S.-China tariff truce earlier in the week even as economic

survey data showed a deterioration in consumer sentiment.

While the S&P 500 steadily added to gains from late morning,

stocks briefly lost ground earlier when the University of

Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its Consumer Sentiment Index

slumped further in May while one-year inflation expectations

surged to 7.3% from 6.5% last month.

All three main indexes boasted weekly gains after starting

out with a steep rally on Monday - after Washington and Beijing

agreed to a 90-day pause in their escalating trade war. This was

days after Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had

announced a limited bilateral trade agreement.

Lindsey Bell, chief market strategist at Clearnomics, New

York, said Friday's advance was a "carry on from the

de-escalation in the trade conflict."

With the economy still solid while investors are

pessimistic, Bell expects more volatility ahead as tariff

headlines come out, and added that "data could change in coming

months."

"I don't think we're out of the woods yet. We're going

to have to take it on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis," she

said.

Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at

Wells Fargo Investment Institute, described the market as

"cautiously optimistic" about the softening stance on trade, but

waiting to see where the U.S. eventually lands on tariffs.

"We haven't even begun to see what happens when those

tariffs really bite, when firms have to raise their prices to

consumers and consumers see fewer goods and less variety on the

shelves," said Christopher.

Investors were also left waiting for clarity on U.S. tax

policy as Trump's sweeping tax bill failed to clear a key

procedural hurdle as hardline Republicans demanding deeper

spending cuts blocked the measure in a rare political setback

for the Republican president in Congress.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 41.54 points, or 0.70%, to end at 5,958.47 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 96.57 points, or

0.51%, to 19,208.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 328.03 points, or 0.78%, to 42,650.78.

Unitedhealth Group Inc ( UNH ) regained some ground

after eight straight days of steep losses. Investors said they

were

warily expecting strategic changes

at the insurer after the Wall Street Journal reported it

was under a criminal probe by the Justice Department.

Among other stocks, Applied Materials ( AMAT ) shares

slipped after the provider of equipment for chip manufacturing

missed estimates for second-quarter revenue.

Charter Communications ( CHTR ) shares rose after the cable

company said it would buy privately held rival Cox

Communications for $21.9 billion.

Shares in Verizon Communications ( VZ ) rose after the

Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was approving

its $20 billion purchase of fiber-optic internet provider

Frontier Communications after the largest U.S. telecom

company agreed to end its diversity, equity and inclusion

programs.