President Donald Trump said on Twitter that trade talks with China in Washington were "going well," but that a final deal would await a meeting between him and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping "in the near future." Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare characterized the statement as ambiguous, saying, "it's neither a good nor bad revelation from the president, but it just keeps the market guessing about this important issue."
In earnings news, Facebook surged 11.3 percent after reporting a record quarterly profit of $6.9 billion as it boosted its global user base despite scandals that have dented the leading social network's image. But Microsoft dropped 1.8 percent after it reported revenues of $32.5 billion, a bit below expectations. Among other companies reporting results, General Electric jumped 9.4 percent, UPS gained 5.7 percent and Visa shed 2.5 percent.