Investing.com – Wall Street opened higher for the first time in three sessions on Wednesday, driven by news that China had extended a peace offering ahead of high-level trade talks this week.
The Dow rose 160 points or 0.6% by 9:44 AM ET (13:44 GMT), while the S&P 500 was up 20 points or 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite gained 68 points or 0.9%.
China reportedly offered to increase annual soybean purchases to 30 million tons from 20 million tons at present. China is open to a limited deal as long as no more tariffs are imposed, Bloomberg reported.
"There are expectations that some sort of an interim deal will emerge from these meetings," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "Investors certainly seem more hopeful now than they did two days ago."
American Outdoor Brands jumped 8.3% after Craig-Hallum upgraded the company to buy from hold, while Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock inched up 0.5% even after American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) pulled Boeing’s 737 Max from its schedule until mid-January, hinting at yet another delay to the resumption of flights by the model. American Airlines was up 1.9%.
Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) fell 1% after a court ordered the company to pay a Maryland a man $8 billion because its antipsychotic drug Risperdal caused him to grow enlarged breasts. Levi Strauss (NYSE:LEVI) tumbled 6.4% after the company reported it is struggling with its wholesale business in North and South America.
In commodities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% to 98.725 and gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,511.75 a troy ounce. Crude oil futures jumped 1.5% to $53.44 a barrel.
-Reuters contributed to this report