Stocks gain on mixed trade news

In the stock market, it’s all about trade now.

Stocks were jumping early Thursday after China said both sides in the U.S.China trade war had agreed to roll back tariffs if their talks progress. But an afternoon report citing fierce opposition within the White House to the agreement undercut the enthusiasm, and the majority of the market’s gains evaporated.

By the end of trading, the S&P 500 was up 8.40 points, or 0.3%, at 3,085.18. It managed to set a record for the second time this week, but it had been on pace for a bigger, 0.7% gain earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 182.24, or 0.7%, to 27,674.80 and also set a record. The Nasdaq composite finished just shy of its all-time high after rising 23.89 points, or 0.3%, to 8,434.52.

Encouraging reports on the economy and corporate profits have helped drive stocks back to record heights in recent weeks. The U.S. job market remains strong, and the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates three times since the summer to bolster the economy. Earnings for big companies, meanwhile, weren’t as bad in the summer as Wall Street had feared.

That leaves the U.S. trade war as the wild card for the global economy, and markets are trading on every whiff of movement about it as a result.

President Trump’s trade war has been a top concern for investors since early 2018. Increased tariffs don’t only raise costs and sap profits for U.S. companies. They also have made chief executives hesitant to spend on new factories, expansions and other investments given all the uncertainties about what the rules of trade will be.

Momentum has been moving toward a deal, at least an incremental one that prevents conditions from getting worse.

Altogether, the improvements mean worries about a possible recession are diminishing. That in turn has more investors on Wall Street confident that this bull market for stocks, which already is the longest on record, can keep going.

More than a dozen companies joined the lengthy parade of those reporting stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Qualcomm jumped 6.3% after it reported revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street’s forecasts, and Ralph Lauren surged 14.7% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after posting its own better-than-expected results.

Energy stocks jumped 1.6% for the largest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500, and financial stocks climbed 0.7%.