S&P 500 approaches record high on U.S.-China trade progress
By April Joyner NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose on Friday, briefly surpassing its record closing high, after Washington said it was close to finalizing parts of a trade pact with Beijing. The benchmark index hit a session high of 3,027.39, reaching above its closing record of 3,025.86 on July 26. It came within a point of overtaking its all-time high of 3,027.98 set during the July 26 session.

By April Joyner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose on Friday, briefly surpassing its record closing high, after Washington said it was close to finalizing parts of a trade pact with Beijing.
The benchmark index <.SPX> hit a session high of 3,027.39, reaching above its closing record of 3,025.86 on July 26. It came within a point of overtaking its all-time high of 3,027.98 set during the July 26 session.
U.S. stocks added to marginal gains early in the session after the U.S. Trade Representative's office said that deputy-level trade talks would continue. President Donald Trump also struck a hopeful tone, saying that China wanted "to make a deal very badly."
The developments rounded off a strong week for equity markets, which were boosted by a clutch of better-than-expected third-quarter earnings reports. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both set for their biggest weekly percentage gain in seven weeks.
Intel Corp's
The gain in Intel shares helped propel the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index <.SOX> to a record high.
Trade optimism and Intel's gains outweighed losses in shares of Amazon.com Inc
"The market reaction to Amazon wasn't as bad as people thought, which created a positive atmosphere," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. "Then the trade headlines - I think the market liked that as well."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 149.4 points, or 0.56%, to 26,954.93, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 10.93 points, or 0.36%, to 3,021.22 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 46.16 points, or 0.56%, to 8,231.96.
Boeing Co
Shares of VF Corp
Charter Communications Inc
The next round of earnings due next week includes Apple Inc
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.43-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.74-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 40 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 80 new highs and 55 new lows.
(Reporting by April Joyner; Additional reporting by Arjun Panchadar and Ambhini Aishwarya in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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