Stocks surge ahead of trade talks
Stocks gained on Wednesday amid optimism the U.S. and China could reach a small trade deal.
The major averages were higher from the get-go as an early Bloomberg report suggested Beijing is open to non-core concessions, like buying more agricultural products, in exchange for the U.S. not imposing more tariffs on Chinese goods. A follow-up report by The Financial Times said China would be willing to increase its purchases of agricultural products by 50 percent, upping its total to $30 billion annually.
However, stocks pared their gains in the final minutes of trading after Reuters reported that Beijing has lowered its expectations for a deal after the U.S. on Monday put 28 Chinese companies on its entity list, restricting their ability to do business with America.
High-level talks between the U.S. and China are scheduled to resume in Washington on Thursday.
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Traders also had to grapple with the release of the minutes from the Fed's September meeting, which showed participants thought that "downside risks to the outlook for economic activity had increased somewhat since their July meeting, particularly those stemming from trade policy uncertainty and conditions abroad."
All three of the major averages indexes gained, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tacking on 182 points, or 0.7 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq outperformed, gaining 0.9 percent and 1 percent respectively.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 38460.92 | -42.77 | -0.11% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5071.63 | +1.08 | +0.02% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15712.748618 | +16.11 | +0.10% |
U.S.-listed Chinese bounced back after falling Tuesday following a Bloomberg report suggesting that the White House is considering restricting government pension fund investments in them.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BABA | ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD. | 74.64 | +2.13 | +2.94% |
| BIDU | BAIDU INC. | 99.19 | +0.98 | +1.00% |
| JD | JD.COM INC. | 28.27 | +0.72 | +2.63% |
Chipmakers recouped some losses from the previous session, which developed after the U.S. added 28 Chinese companies to its entity list on Monday evening, sparking concerns that China might retaliate.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. | 151.74 | -0.50 | -0.33% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 796.77 | -27.41 | -3.33% |
Elsewhere, American Airlines and Boeing shares were in focus after the former said it was extending cancellations of 737 Max flights.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 13.92 | -0.30 | -2.11% |
| BA | THE BOEING CO. | 164.34 | -4.74 | -2.80% |
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.6 percent and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.4 percent.
In Europe, all of the major averages were higher with Germany's DAX up 0.8 percent to lead the advance.
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FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this article.