Stocks rose broadly in early trading on Wall Street Thursday, pushing major indexes toward another set of records, after China said it agreed with the U.S. on a gradual pullback on tariffs if talks progress.
The S&P 500 is heading for its second record-setting day this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq are on pace for their third day of record highs.
Technology companies led the market. Qualcomm rose sharply after reporting solid earnings. The sector is prone to swings in trade relations as many of those companies rely on China for sales and supply chains.
Banks also rose after bond yields made a big jump. Higher yields allow banks to charge more lucrative interest rates on mortgages and other loans. Citigroup rose 1.7% and JPMorgan Chase rose 1.3%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.89% from 1.81% late Wednesday. The big move signals confidence from investors as they shift away from safe-play holdings and take on more risk.
Real estate companies and utilities, also considered safer investments, lagged the market.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 0.6% as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 202 points, or 0.7%, to 27,691. The Nasdaq rose 0.7%.
The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks was outpacing the broader market in the early going with a gain of 1.1%.
Markets in Europe and Asia also rose.
TRADING ON TRADE: The encouraging development in U.S.-China negotiations is giving the market direction after a day of listless trading as investors absorbed the latest round of corporate earnings. Both nations have agreed to a truce, but the terms are still vague and they have yet to sign a deal.
The U.S.-China trade war has been a top concern for investors since early 2018. Wall Street has been worried that tariffs will crimp corporate and economic growth.
BROKEN RECORDS: The S&P 500 has been on a steady rally for the past month, following the announcement of an initial U.S.-China trade deal in early October. Last week it notched three record-setting days as investors grew more encouraged about prospects for economic growth because of solid economic and earnings reports.
The rally also lifted the Dow and Nasdaq over the last two weeks to multiple records.
EARNINGS SCORECARD: It's a busy day for corporate earnings as the latest round of results nears the finish line. More than 85% of companies within the S&P 500 have reported so far.
Chipmaker Qualcomm, which reported results late Wednesday, rose 7.2% after beating analyst's profit forecasts. Several other winners included drug distributor Cardinal Health, which rose 5.9% after reporting surprisingly good results. Ralph Lauren surged 14.2% following its solid results.
Several companies that focus on travel were punished by investors after reporting weak results. TripAdvisor plunged 22.4% and Expedia plummeted 24.1%.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party.
Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”
Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.
In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.
Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.
“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”
The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right. Reform has topped opinion polls for months, trounced the Conservatives in last May’s local elections and has welcomed a stream of defecting Tory members and officials.
Jenrick, who has continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.
Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.
The Conservatives remain the official opposition to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour.
Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.
Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.
However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.
The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the party was created nearly 200 years ago.
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
