Stocks were closing in on record highs Friday morning after the U.S. Trade Representative said it was exempting more than 400 Chinese goods from tariffs. The announcement comes as U.S. and Chinese officials meet in Washington for the second day of trade talks, which they hope will pave the way for higher-level meetings next month.
All three of the major averages opened higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up about 80 points, or 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq held similar gains.
All-time highs remain within reach for all three indexes. A print above the following levels would be the highest on record:
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S&P 500: 3,027.98
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 27,398.68
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Nasdaq: 8,339.64
The New York Fed on Friday morning injected another $75 billion into money markets through a repo operation designed to provide liquidity and keep its fed funds rate within its target range between 1.75 percent and 2 percent. The central bank has injected $278 billion into the overnight funding market after short-term rates spiked as high as 10 percent earlier in the week.
Bank stocks were higher in early trading
Elsewhere, Apple topped a $1 trillion market capitalization as consumers lined up at stores around the world to get their hands on the iPhone 11.
Auto-parts makers remained under pressure as the United Auto Workers union continued its strike against General Motors.
Overnight, China's central bank reduced its 1-year loan prime rate to 4.2 percent from 4.25 percent. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 percent on the day, but lost 0.8 percent for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was little changed, ending the week down 3.4 percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC swung between gains and losses.
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FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this story.
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