U. S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending gains and the Nasdaq turning positive on reports of progress in tariff disputes between the United States and its trading partners China and Mexico.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U. S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending gains and the Nasdaq turning positive on reports of progress in tariff disputes between the United States and its trading partners China and Mexico.
Chinese and U. S. negotiators are planning talks to resolve their trade row ahead of meetings in November, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Additionally, Mexico’s economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, said he hopes to wrap up outstanding bilateral issues on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the middle of next week.
“The threat of a trade war threatens economic activity,” said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. “The fact that the administration might resolve (trade disputes) sooner rather than later, without a sustained time frame of slower economic actively due to tariffs, that bodes well for the market.”
Trade-vulnerable industrial stocks led advances by the S&P 500 and the Dow, with the S&P 500 industrial sector gaining 0.6 percent. The sector was led higher by a 2.3 percent rise in Caterpillar Inc ( CAT. N) shares.
For the week, the S&P and the Dow posted weekly gains, but the Nasdaq showed a loss for the same period.
Following bleak forecasts, shares of Nvidia Corp ( NVDA.
