Stocks Opened Modestly Higher amid Trade war De-escalation, ECB Decision

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Thursday following moves by the U.S. and China to at least temporarily de-escalate the ongoing trade war, and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to cut key rates further. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 24.86 points, or 0.09%, to 27,112.18. The S&P 500 advanced 1.01 points, or 0.03%, to 3,001.94. The Nasdaq Composite rose 13.01 points, or 0.16%, to 8,182.68.

Oil futures on Thursday headed lower after an IEA monthly report showed a rise to global supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell $1.16, or 2.1%, at $54.59 a barrel. November Brent crude lost $1.35, or 2.2%, to $59.46 a barrel.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would put off imposing additional tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods by two weeks to October 15.

The ECB slashed interest rates further below zero and announced it would restart its quantitative easing program with a program to purchase 20 billion euros of bonds every month starting in November for “as long as necessary,” in a move to help stimulate the flagging eurozone economy. The ECB reduced the deposit rate to an all-time low of negative 0.5%, from negative 0.4% previously.