The Wall Street Journal reported that China agreed to open its cloud-computing sector to foreign companies in an attempt to sweeten a deal with the U.S.
This follows Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin telling CNBC on Wednesday that Washington and Beijing have “pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism” for when a deal is struck.
Investors also weighed news that talks between EU leaders and British Prime Minister Theresa May culminated in a “flexible extension ” of the U.K.’s departure from the bloc until Oct. 31.
Thursday’s moves follow the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting. The minutes showed the Fed does not expect to raise rates later in 2019. However, the central bank left the door open for tighter monetary policy if economic growth improves.