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US Stocks Rally Ahead of China Trade Talks; Walmart Surges

China will send a trade envoy to Washington in late August in a new attempt to end the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies

Stocks are surging on Wall Street Thursday as China and the U.S. prepare to hold their first trade discussions in months, a potential sign of progress toward ending the trade war between them. Walmart is climbing after the retailer said its sales climbed in second quarter. Metals prices rose sharply, a day after a big drop, and the price of crude oil moved higher.

KEEPING SCORE
The S&P 500 index climbed 26 points, or 1 percent, to 2,845 as of 2:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 425 points, or 1.7 percent, to 25,587 as Walmart and Boeing made big gains. The Nasdaq composite rose 52 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,826.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 14 points, or 0.9 percent to 1,685.

It's the latest wild swing for stocks. The S&P 500 is on track for its biggest gain since June 1 just a day after its biggest loss in six weeks.

Stocks slumped Friday and Monday as investors worried about Turkey's currency crisis, then rebounded Tuesday only to fall again Wednesday on rising concerns about China's economic growth.

TRADE HOPES
China will send a trade envoy to Washington in late August in a new attempt to end the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. The countries are in conflict over technology policy and China's trade surplus with the U.S.

The two sides haven't held talks since early June. After those talks, both countries put taxes on $34 billion in each other's imports. Those taxes are set to rise next week, and both countries have threatened even larger increases.

WOW FOR WALMART
Walmart posted some of its strongest sales growth in a decade and its online revenue grew 40 percent, a faster pace than it reported in the first quarter. The stock jumped 9.5 percent to $98.78, which wiped out its losses from earlier this year.

Other retailers and consumer goods companies also edged higher. Target added 1.5 percent to $81.90 and Procter & Gamble rose 1.7 percent to $83.70. Amazon climbed 0.6 percent to $1,894.18 and McDonald's climbed 1.2 percent to $161.76.

SOFTWARE SURGE
Symantec jumped 6.3 percent to $19.71 after the activist investment firm Starboard Value disclosed a 5.8 percent stake in the company and said it plans to nominate five directors for spots on Symantec's board of directors.

Symantec said it has been talking to Starboard for the past several weeks and is evaluating the candidates it nominated.

DEPARTMENT STORES DUMPED
J.C. Penney tumbled 24.7 percent to $1.82 after it took a bigger loss than analysts expected and reported weaker sales. The chain also cut its forecasts for the year again. Dillard's dropped 13.4 percent to $71.83 after its report.

Department stores have made big gains this year, but they dropped Wednesday after Macy's said its sales growth slowed during the second quarter.

Macy's inched up 1.1 percent to $35.52 after a 16 percent plunge the day before. Nordstrom and Kohl's also managed small gains.

FEELING QUEASY
Chipotle lost 4.4 percent to $502.93 after Ohio heath officials said tests tied to one store came back positive for an illness that occurs when food is left at unsafe temperatures.

The company closed a store in Powell, Ohio in July for cleaning after it learned about the reported illnesses. Chipotle says it will retrain all restaurant employees on food safety procedures.

COMMODITIES
Oil prices were steady after a sharp drop a day earlier. U.S. crude inched up 0.7 percent to settle at $65.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, picked up 0.7 percent to $71.22 per barrel.

Metals prices also turned higher. Gold dipped 0.1 percent to $1,184 an ounce. Silver rose 1.8 percent to $14.71 an ounce. Copper added 2.2 percent to $2.62 a pound. That made up for much of Wednesday's loss, but copper prices are still down 20 percent since early June.

BONDS
Bond prices turned lower again. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.87 percent from 2.85 percent. That helped send bank stocks higher. JPMorgan Chase rose 1.2 percent to $115.04 and Bank of America added 1.3 percent to $30.76.

CURRENCIES
The dollar rose to 110.88 yen from 110.57 yen. The euro rose to $1.1360 from $1.1346.

OVERSEAS
Germany's DAX added 0.6 percent and in France the CAC 40 rose 0.8 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rallied 0.8 percent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.1 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.8 percent. South Korea's Kospi reopened from a holiday and tumbled 0.8 percent.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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