2018.05.1421:52:00UTC+00Wall Street Gains as US-China Trade Concerns Ease

Wall Street advanced on Monday amid hopes of a potential breakthrough in trade tensions between the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 68.24 points to 24,899.41, with UnitedHealth and Walmart as the best-performing stocks in the index. The 30-stock index also extended its winning streak to eight consecutive days.

The S&P 500 gained 0.1 percent to close at 2,730.13, with energy, health care and materials outperforming. Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with technology and energy sectors leading the gains. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.1 percent and finished at 7,411.32.

President Donald Trump softened his stance on Chinese technology company ZTE Corp, signaling easing U.S.-China trade tensions. Trump on Sunday pledged to help ZTE “get back into business, fast” nearly a month after the U.S. Commerce Department banned American companies from selling to the firm for violating an agreement.

Trade officials are seeking to find a way to resolve an ongoing trade dispute, although Beijing has already said it will not change its current position over the coming days.

Also helping the mood was news that China had resumed its review of chipmaker Qualcomm's proposed $44 billion takeover of NXP Semiconductors soared 10.3 percent and Qualcomm 3.3 percent. The Philadelphia semiconductor index added 1.9 percent.

The indexes posted strong gains last week, buoyed by a surge in oil prices, easing inflation fears and Apple's rally that took the iPhone maker close to $1 trillion in market capitalization.