U.S. stocks moved broadly higher on Wall Street in early trading Wednesday, led by technology companies and banks.
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Chipmaker Intel rose 2% after naming a new chief financial officer and rival Advanced Micro Devices jumped 9%. Morgan Stanley rose 1.5%.
Solid earnings helped push Dave & Buster’s higher, while weak earnings sent GameStop lower.
Consumer product and utility companies lagged the market as investors moved toward riskier holdings, signaling more confidence in economic growth.
The U.S. and China resumed negotiations Wednesday to end a trade war that has raised prices on goods for both consumers and companies. Investors hope that the world’s largest economies can agree to pull back on some of those tariffs and move toward a more stable trading partnership.
Markets have swayed for months as the contentious talks drag on. The latest reports say that both sides have resolved most of the key issues, with some pledges from China to end practices viewed by the U.S. as technology theft.
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KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11 points, or 0.1%, to 26,190 as of 10:10 a.m. The S&P 500 index rose 0.3% as it comes off of a four-day winning streak. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%.
WEAK GAME: Video game retailer GameStop fell 8% after reporting weak first-quarter sales, with more of the same likely for the year.
It expects sales to fall as much as 10% this year and would not give investors a profit forecast.
The stock has lost about two-thirds of its value since 2015 as revenue declines while gamers bypass retail shops for games that can be bought and played online.
MORE EATING, DRINKING AND PLAYING: Dave & Buster’s rose 3% after the restaurant and arcade operator beat fourth-quarter forecasts.
A key sales figure jumped and also beat forecasts as the company attracted more business with the addition of a virtual reality game platform.
