Major US equity indices shot up during the opening hour of trade on Thursday and were driven by US-China trade talk optimism.
Trade-related tensions between the world’s two largest economies eased after a report late Wednesday said that the Trump administration is proposing a new round of trade talks with China, diminishing odds of a full-blown trade war.
This coupled with a rebound in technology sector further boosted investors’ confidence and remained supportive of the early positive momentum. With today’s up-move, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up for the third day in a row and the broader S&P 500 Index extended the uptick for the fourth straight session.
On the economic data front, the US consumer inflation slowed to 2.7% y/y in August, down from a six-year high level of 2.9% in the previous month. Separately, initial weekly jobless claims fell slightly to 204K during the week ended Sept. 8, the lowest levels since December 1969, and reaffirmed the underlying strength in the US labour market.
At the time of writing this report, the DJIA climbed nearly 185-points to 16,184 and the S&P 500 added over 17-points to move beyond the 2,900 mark. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index outperformed the markets and rallied around 75-points and jumped back above the 8,000 psychological round figure mark.