Stocks - Dow Posts Triple-Digital Gain on Signs of Trade Progress

Investing.com - The Dow rallied, but closed well below its session highs Wednesday, even as positive news on U.S. and China trade raised hopes that both nations may be able to find a way to resolve their bitter dispute.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.64% to 24,527, below its session high of 24,828. The S&P 500 climbed 0.54%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.95%.

Reports that China could revamp its economic plans to give foreign companies more access to its domestic market revived hopes that the U.S. and China may find a breakthrough in their talks during the 90-day ceasefire.

Trade sentiment was given a further boost as China reportedly made good on a pledge to ramp up U.S. agriculture spending, with its first major U.S. soybeans purchase since trade truce was agreed earlier this month, Reuters reported.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and Boeing (NYSE:BA), which are viewed as barometers of sentiment toward trade given their large international exposure, rallied to lift industrials and the broader market higher.

Renewed optimism on U.S.-China trade, which has weighed on risk sentiment for months, prompted a wave of buying in tech as FANG stocks flourished.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) rose 4% as analysts continued to tout further subscriber gains for the streaming giant in the coming year. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also ended the day up.

Energy names, meanwhile, held onto gains, even as U.S. oil prices fell 1% following an Energy Information Agency report showing a smaller-than-expected draw in domestic crude supplies.

Financials were also swept higher in the broad-based rally, though bank stocks kept a lid on gains amid bearish calls from Wall Street.

Atlantic Equities downgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to a neutral, citing a more subdued environment for investment banking activity, while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods removed its outperform ratings on several banks, including Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).

In corporate news, Under Armour (NYSE:UA) stock slumped 9% after the retailer narrowed its full-year earnings outlook and said sales would be "relatively flat" in North America.

Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:

United Rentals (NYSE:URI), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.

Under Armour (NYSE:UAA), Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Macerich (NYSE:MAC) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.

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