(Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained in morning trading on Thursday after the United States delayed scheduled tariff hikes on billions worth of Chinese imports, and the European Central Bank launched a stimulus drive to boost the ailing euro zone economy.
In a tweet that calmed trade tensions that have battered financial markets over the last year, President Donald Trump said the United States would delay increasing tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports by two weeks as “a gesture of good will”.
The decision comes after China extended an olive branch by exempting some U.S. anti-cancer drugs and other goods from additional tariffs ahead of planned high-level trade negotiations.
All the major indexes hit a session high on a report here&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter that the Trump administration was considering an interim deal with China, but quickly pared gains after CNBC said that a senior White House official denied here the report.
“It’s just what we should come to expect now,” Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago said about the sporadic market movement on the contrasting reports.
“Both China and the United States are trying to reach across the aisle ... but all they’ve done is kick the can further down the road.”
Trade-sensitive technology stocks provided the biggest boost among the 11 major S&P 500 .SPX sectors. The benchmark index rose to within 0.3% of a record high hit in July.
The ECB approved a new stimulus package on Thursday, cutting deposit rates by 10 basis points to a record low and starting a bond buying program. The U.S. Federal Reserve
