Investing.com - The Dow closed higher Friday on trade optimism after President Donald Trump said there is a "very good chance" a trade deal can be made with China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.70%. The S&P 500 added 0.62%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.91%. The Dow finished higher for an eighth straight week. The S&P 500's gain was its fourth in a row. The Nasdaq was higher for a ninth straight week.
A sea of green washed over Wall Street on growing investor hopes that the United States and China will avoid escalating their bitter trade dispute as both nations signaled progress had been made in latest round of trade talks.
Following a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Trump said there was a "very good chance" that a deal could happen, adding that the final points on a trade pact would likely be worked out in a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the "not-too-distant" future.
In a sign that both sides remained committed to resolving their differences on trade, Liu extended his visit to the U.S. to continue talks with his U.S. counterparts.
Beyond trade, tech stocks surged thanks to gains in Intuit and Intel.
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) soared 6.8% after it posted fiscal second-quarter results Thursday that topped estimates compiled by Investing.com.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) rose 2.1% on the back of an upbeat assessment from Morgan Stanley.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded Intel's shares to overweight from equal-weight and raised its price target to $64 from $55 on expectations the chip maker will be one of the major winners when spending on cloud computing increases.
In consumer staples, Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) plummeted 27.5% after disclosing Thursday the SEC had launched a probe into the company's accounting practices. The company also reported a quarterly loss as it revealed a $15.4 billion write-down.
Energy stocks ended the day higher, meanwhile, as U.S. oil prices rose on hopes a U.S.-China trade deal would fuel global economic growth, driving up crude demand.
On the monetary policy front, Federal Reserve members continued to suggest the central bank is ready to stop tightening its balance sheet if the heath of the labor market or the pace of inflation turns sour.
"If ever it appears that our plans for the balance sheet are running counter to the achievement of our dual-mandate objectives, we would quickly reassess our approach to the balance sheet," Fed Vice Chair Randal Quarles said at the Chicago Booth U.S. Monetary Policy Forum in New York.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) and DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) and Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.