US markets rallied following news that fresh US-China trade talks had been scheduled for October, pushing the benchmark indices out of the range they have been trading in for much of the last month and to within striking distance of their record highs struck in June - Dow up +373-points or +1.41% The broader S&P500 gained +1.30%, with Information Technology (up +2.13%) the leading sector performer and pushing the index back up to within ~1.7% of its all time high. The technology-centric NASDAQ rallied +1.74%. China’s Commerce Ministry issued a statement saying that Liu He, Beijing’s top negotiator on trade, had spoken with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The two sides agreed to hold another round of trade negotiations in Washington, D.C., towards the beginning of next month, and consultations will be made in mid-September in preparation for the meeting, the statement said. Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng told a press briefing that the two delegations will strive to achieve "substantial progress" in October.
