Stocks soar amid growing hopes for China trade talks

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks jumped yesterday as China and the U.S. said they will hold their first trade discussions in months, a potential sign of progress toward ending their trade war.

China will send a trade envoy to Washington later this month in a new attempt to end the trade dispute before it causes major damage to the global economy. The two sides haven’t talked since early June. Energy and metals prices and shares of industrial companies turned higher.

Walmart soared after reporting its strongest growth in sales in more than a decade. Other companies that make and sell basic necessities also rose.

Jason Draho, the head of asset allocation for UBS, said investors are eager for the two countries to start making progress and resolve their differences. He added that China may be changing course because its economy has slowed.

“The data we’ve seen from China recently has showed slowing growth,” he said. “It’s possible they decided ‘OK, we need to take a different approach’ and come to the table offering a little more.”

The S&P 500 index climbed 22.32 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,840.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 396.32 points, or 1.6 percent, to 25,558.73 as Walmart and Boeing made big gains. The Nasdaq composite rose 32.41 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7,806.52.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 15.09 points, or 0.9 percent to 1,685.75.