U.S. stock indexes extend winning streak to 3rd day

NEW YORK» Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street on Thursday for the third consecutive day, led by solid gains in technology firms and banks.

The latest gains extend the market’s turnaround from the start of the week, when stocks nose dived as the trade conflict between the U.S. and China escalated, stoking investors’ fears about the fallout for the global economy and corporate profits.

Traders have since been encouraged by signals that Washington and Beijing are still planning to continue negotiations. And they have found relief in reports indicating that the U.S. is backing away from raising tariffs on auto imports from Europe and is making progress on lifting steel tariffs in North America.

“While we’ve seen a heightened rhetoric between the U.S. administration and the Chinese, we haven’t seen a significant global escalation at this point, so there’s a little bit of a relief in that,” said Eric Wiegand, the senior portfolio manager for Private Wealth Management at U.S. Bank.

The S&P 500 index rose 25.36 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,876.32. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 214.66 points, or 0.8 percent, to 25,862.68. The index was briefly up 309 points.

The Nasdaq composite gained 75.90 points, or 1 percent, to 7,898.05. The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks picked up 8.97 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,557.24.

Major stock indexes in Europe also finished higher.

The S&P 500 is now up 2.3 percent from its close on Monday, when the benchmark index slumped after China issued retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

The market has still not recovered all its losses since early last week, when President Donald Trump turned up the heat in the trade war by threatening to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent. The S&P 500 is still down about 1.9 percent from its close on May 6.

Cisco rose the most in the S&P 500, vaulting 6.7 percent after the technology company beat Wall Street’s fiscal third-quarter earnings forecasts.

Not all technology sector stocks had a good day. Chipmakers slumped one day after the Trump administration labeled Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei a security risk and imposed export curbs on U.S. technology sales to the company. The move hurts U.S. chipmakers, which sell products to Huawei, which is the biggest global maker of switching equipment for phone companies.

Banks and other financial services companies received a boost from higher bond yields, which allow them to charge higher interest rates on loans.

Investors also bid up shares in Walmart, after the retail giant reported a surge in a key sales measure, driven by a growing grocery sales business. The company also said its online sales rose 37 percent.

Energy futures finished higher. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.4 percent to settle at $62.87 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, closed 1.2 percent higher at $72.62 per barrel.