US stocks rose on Wednesday after the Trump administration eased its stance on curbing Chinese investments in American technologies and as oil prices surged. President Donald Trump said he will use a strengthened national security review panel - the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) - to deal with potential threats from Chinese acquisition of US technology, instead of imposing China-specific restrictions.
"Today's development was a positive one," said Emily Roland, head of capital markets research at John Hancock Investments in Boston. "It looks like Trump may dial back plans to impose restrictions on China." The S&P 500 tumbled as much as 2 percent on Monday after reports that the US Treasury Department was drafting curbs that would block firms with at least 25 percent Chinese ownership from buying US tech firms.
The S&P industrial sector jumped 0.78 percent on Wednesday, with Boeing and Caterpillar, both of which are highly reliant on China for revenue, rising about 2 percent. The S&P energy index was up 1.9 percent, the most among the 11 major sectors and on pace for its best day in nearly a month, as oil prices jumped nearly 3 percent after plunging US crude stockpiles compounded supply concerns.
At 11:18 am EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 193.41 points, or 0.80 percent, at 24,476.52, the S&P 500 was up 13.88 points, or 0.51 percent, at 2,736.94 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 14.36 points, or 0.19 percent, at 7,575.99. Among stocks, General Electric gained about 4 percent, riding the optimism from the industrial conglomerates' restructuring plans announced on Tuesday.
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