NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple led a rebound in technology shares and boosted all three major U.S. stock indexes on Thursday, while trade worries eased after China welcomed new talks with the United States.
The Dow inched closer to its all-time high hit on Jan. 26, closing at its highest since Feb. 1 and just 1.8 percent below the Jan. 26 close. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had already moved past their January peaks to record highs in prior weeks.
The S&P technology index .SPLRCT climbed 1.2 percent on the day, its biggest percentage gain since Aug. 2, boosted by Apple’s (AAPL.O) 2.4 percent gain.
The timing of a new round of trade talks remains unclear and President Donald Trump said the United States was under no pressure to make a deal with China.
“Stocks already got a boost yesterday when investors got word the Trump administration had reached out to China on trade talks,” said Burns McKinney, portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors in Dallas.
Also, he said, “the inflation numbers came out lower than people had expected. That’s a positive because it gives the (Federal Reserve) cover to maybe move slower in raising interest rates, which is good for equities.”
U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in August and underlying inflation pressures also appeared to be slowing, a report from the U.S. Labor Department showed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 147.07 points, or 0.57 percent, to 26,145.99, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 15.26 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,904.18 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 59.48 points,
