Wall Street gains mid-session as Trump-Xi call sparks trade optimism; European markets close with ECB rate cut cheers

Wall Street gains mid-session as Trump-Xi call sparks trade optimism; European markets close with ECB rate cut cheers

US stocks edged higher by mid-session on Thursday, reversing early indecision as investor sentiment improved on signs of easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

At 11:10 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2% each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 outperformed with a 0.5% gain, supported by strength in megacap stocks.

The market got a lift after reports confirmed that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation earlier in the day—marking a rare moment of direct diplomacy between the two countries in recent months. Trump later called it a “very good” call and said both sides agreed to resume talks, helping dial back investor anxiety over rising geopolitical and trade friction.

The trade update offered a welcome counterbalance to this week’s disappointing US labor market signals. Thursday’s jobless claims came in above expectations, following a sharp miss in private payrolls data the previous day. Attention now shifts to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, which could sharpen expectations around the Federal Reserve’s policy path.

Elsewhere, European markets ended in positive territory after the European Central Bank cut its key rate by 25 basis points—the first such move since 2019. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.9%, with Germany’s DAX and the UK’s FTSE 100 closing slightly higher. France’s CAC 40, however, slipped 0.2%, bucking the regional trend.