Stocks hold at record highs after US, China agree to roll back tariffs if phase one trade deal reached
The U.S. and China have agreed to roll back tariffs in the event a phase one trade deal is reached, FOX Business has learned. Stocks held at record highs around midday on Thursday.
"In the past two weeks, lead negotiators have had serious and constructive discussions on resolving issues of core concern," Chinese Ministry of Finance spokesperson Gao Feng said in a statement out early Thursday.
"Both sides agreed to remove the additional tariffs imposed in phases as progress is made on the agreement. If China and the US reach a phase one deal, both sides should roll back existing additional tariffs in the same proportion simultaneously."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 250 points, or 0.9 percent while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 held gains 0.56 percent and 0.77 percent respectively. All three of the major averages were trading in record territory.
President Trump celebrated the record highs in a tweet.
Industrial bellwethers Caterpillar and Boeing both gained amid the seemingly positive news on the trade front.
Looking at earnings, Pacific Gas and Electric shares were lower after the utility announced a $2.5 billion third-quarter write-down for damage claims related to wildfires in Northern California.
Roku was under pressure after reporting third-quarter costs surged as it made efforts to juice subscriber growth.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm shares gained after the manufacturer of digital wireless communications equipment said strength in its licensing business delivered better-than-expected results.
U.S. economic data out Thursday morning was light, with initial jobless claims coming in at 211,000, below the 215,000 that economists surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting.
Traders dumped Treasurys, running the yield on the 10-year note up nearly 8 basis points to 1.891 percent.
Elsewhere, commodities were mixed, with gold down 0.48 percent at $1,486 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil up 1.83 percent at $57.38 a barrel.
In European, Germany's DAX gained 0.7 percent to lead the gains.
In Asian market trading, the Shanghai Composite was unchanged, Tokyo's Nikkei edged up 0.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6 percent.
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FOX Business' Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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