Dow roars higher on hopes for US-China trade relations

US-China trade relations are behind Friday’s stocks gains, analysts said. Beijing is planning to buy more agricultural goods from the United States, in line with the phase one trade deal the two countries agreed to in January, according to a Bloomberg report.

The three major US indexes opened sharply higher, with the Dow (INDU) climbing 1.2%, or 310 points, at the opening bell. The S&P 500 (SPX), which is the broadest measure of Wall Street, rose 1.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP) went up nearly 1% as well.

“US-China relations are not entering a period of calm by any means, but this latest breakthrough suggests both sides don’t want to mess with their respective fragile economic recoveries,” said Edward Moya, senior markets analyst at Oanda, in a note to clients.

Making sure the phase one deal doesn’t fall apart is what matters the most — so as long as that’s a given, the focus on trade relations could be a short-lived catalyst for the market, according to Mark McCormick, global head of FX strategy at TD Securities.

In line with investors’ appetite for riskier assets on Friday, the US dollar slipped against its major rivals, and the ICE US Dollar Index was down 0.1%.

Similarly, safe haven US Treasury bonds slipped, and the 10-year yield rose to 0.73%. Bond yields and prices move in opposition to one another.

Oil prices climbed higher, with US oil up 3.5% to $40.18 a barrel. Brent, the global oil benchmark, was up 2.6% at $42.57 a barrel.