Stocks Ended Higher on Optimism over China-U.S. Trade Talks

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, as optimism that the U.S. and China will eventually resolve their trade standoff offset fears about Turkey’s currency crisis. The Dow industrial Average gained 110.59 points, or 0.43%, to 25,669.32. The S&P 500 climbed 9.44 points, or 0.33%, to 2,850.13. The Nasdaq Composite added 9.81 points, or 0.13%, to 7,816.33. For the week, the Dow posted a gain of 1.4%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, while the Nasdaq closed out the week 0.3% lower.

Oil futures finished higher Friday, but suffered a third weekly loss in a row after data earlier this week marked a surprise jump in U.S. crude inventories and overall strength in the dollar underlined concerns about demand growth. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery climbed by 45 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $65.91 a barrel. October Brent crude rose 40 cents, or 0.6%, to $71.83 a barrel.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index in August fell to 95.3, down from 97.9 in July, the lowest level in 11 months.

U.S. President Donald Trump asked securities regulators to explore replacing quarterly reporting requirements with half-yearly filings. Such a switch would mark a huge change in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s disclosure requirements and put them in line with European Union and United Kingdom rules.