Dow hits record high as industrials gain on trade relief

The Dow Industrial Average on Thursday became the last of the benchmark indexes to regain record territory, boosted by gains in industrial companies on continued relief that fresh U.S. and China tariffs were less damaging than feared.

Shares of Caterpillar rose 2.3 percent and provided the biggest boost to the blue-chip index.

The benchmark S&P 500 opened at a record high, helped by a rebound in technology stocks, while the Nasdaq recovered from a lower session on Wednesday.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with a 1.1 percent gain in shares of Apple boosting the technology sector.

Brokerage BMO Capital Markets said the average selling price of Apple's iPhones will have a material impact over the next few quarters.

Other members of the FAANG group of stocks also rose with Netflix, Facebook, Amazon.com and Google parent Alphabet rising between 0.02 percent and 1.3 percent.

Chipmakers Intel and Micron rose 1.1 percent and 3.6 percent.

Advanced Micro Devices rose 0.5 percent after Stifel raised its price target on the chipmaker's shares and said Intel's struggle to meet demand would open the door for AMD to gain more market share.

"Technology stocks are very much back in the game, there are no broad-based calls of the tech rally being over," said Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.

After having slapped new tariffs on each other's goods this week, China now hopes that Washington will show sincerity and take steps to correct its behavior.

At 9:53 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 193.18 points, or 0.73 percent, at 26,598.94, the S&P 500 was up 13.32 points, or 0.46 percent, at 2,921.27 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 53.10 points, or 0.67 percent, at 8,003.13.

Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week, hitting a near 49-year-low in a sign the job market remains strong.

Under Armour rose 4.3 percent after the sportswear maker said it would cut about 400 global workforce positions, as part of efforts to cut costs to compete with Nike and Germany's Adidas in North America.

Nike climbed 1.1 percent after brokerage Susquehanna highlighted the company's improving sales of footwear.

However, General Electric dropped 3 percent after the company flagged issues with its new H-class gas turbine.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.76-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.74-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 30 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 26 new highs and 15 new lows.  — Reuters