Stocks Opened Higher as China-U.S. Trade Talks Set to Resume

U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday after the U.S. and China agreed to restart trade talks in early October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 320.04 points, or 1.21%, to 26,675.51. The S&P 500 climbed 29.54 points, or 1.01%, to 2,967.32. The Nasdaq Composite gained 99.95 points, or 1.25%, to 8,076.83.

U.S. oil futures were trading slightly higher on Thursday, even as a late-Wednesday inventory report showed that domestic supplies were growing. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery picked up 15 cents, or 0.3%, to trade at $56.40 a barrel. November Brent crude rose 36 cents, or 0.6%, at $61.07 a barrel.

China and the U.S. announced that face-to-face negotiations aimed at ending their tariff war will be held in Washington in the coming weeks. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He agreed to a visit “in early October” during a telephone call on Thursday morning Beijing time with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce.

The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits in the week at the end of August rose slightly. Initial jobless claims edged up by 1,000 to 217,000 in the seven days ended Aug. 31, the government said Thursday.