The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 180 points. Consumer goods companies Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and the Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) were two of the best-performing stocks on the index.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up more than 80 points, boosted by Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) and Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM).
The S&P 500 was up more than 20 points by the closing bell.
The Russell 2000 small-cap index saw minimal gains. Travelzoo Inc (NASDAQ:TZOO) and Endocyte Inc (NASDAQ:ECYT) were top performers on the index.
Up north, the TSX fell nearly 50 points weighed down by energy stocks.
2:40 PM: Wall Street was higher buoyed by trade-resolution hopes and Fed commentary
Wall Street was higher midday buoyed by trade-resolution hopes and Fed commentary which indicated that rates could be at ‘neutral’ sometime in 2019.
Economic growth is “progressing smoothly” the Fed minutes released Thursday stated, with activity “expanding at a solid rate,” and “labor market conditions continuing to strengthen.”
The Fed raised its benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter-percentage point to a range between 1.75% and 2% after a Fed meeting in June. Officials penciled in a total of four increases for 2018, up from a projection of three at the March meeting. They also projected three hikes in 2019.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 132.93, or 0.6% to 24,305 was still in positive territory after the release of the minutes.
Meanwhile, the tech-laden Nasdaq rose by 0.9%, led higher by Micron Technology Inc. which was up by 2.3% to US$52.64 after Susquehanna Financial analyst Mehdi Hosseini told MarketWatch that he thought legal action might actually help Micron and others in the form of higher chip prices. Hosseini has a buy rating and an US$80 price target on Micron.
The S&P 500 added nearly 17.15 points, or 0.6% to climb to 2,730 after technology, health care and consumer-focused companies posted solid gains after traders returned from the Independence Day holiday.
10:00 AM: US stocks higher after White House agrees to concessions on EU auto tariffs
US stocks got off to a relatively robust start Thursday as worries about trade battles receded after reports emerged that the White House is willing to make concessions on tariffs for European car makers.
Early in the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 122 points to 24,296, led higher by Intel, JP Morgan Chase and Merck & Company.
Connor Campbell, a financial analyst with the spreadbetting firm Spreadex, noted that the Dow was finding it difficult to break through the 24,300 level.
"Rising around 50 points after the bell, the Dow couldn't quite reach the 24,300 levels suggested by its futures earlier in the day," he said.
The S&P 500 added nearly 13 points to climb to 2,726 while the tech-laden Nasdaq rose by 40 points to hover at 7,544.
Taking a look at the details, automakers, in particular, enjoyed a strong showing. Fiat Chrysler shares (NYSE:FCAU) jumped nearly 6% to US$20.01 and GM shares (NYSE:GM) rose 1.4% to US$39.55 on the news that the US ambassador to Germany said that President Trump would back off on imposing tariffs on European cars if the EU took a similar approach to US cars.
Up in Canada, Toronto’s TSX, Canada’s principal stock exchange, failed to match the performance of US markets, shedding 42 points to 16,262, dragged down by losses in materials stocks. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks also stayed relatively flat, adding just 3 points to 1,663.
US markets are still preparing for the China-US trade spat as the US is set to hit the world's second-largest economy with a 25% tariff on hundreds of its products, starting tomorrow.