U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, with major indexes extending their early gains to hit session highs in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.79% jumped 2% in a broad advance that saw all but one of its 30 components in positive territory.
The day’s gains came as comments by Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested a less-aggressive stance with respect to trade, which helped to ease concerns about an escalating conflict between the country and the U.S. Among the biggest gainers of the day were Boeing Co. BA, +3.83% and Caterpillar Inc. CAT, +3.50% both of which rose 3.5%.
The two stocks are seen as having an outsize correlation to trade issues. Among other gainers, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +2.94% rose 3.1%, on track for its biggest one-day gain since Sept. 2016. The S&P 500 SPX, +1.67% rose 1.7% while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +2.07% was up 1.7%. All three equity gauges are on track for their fifth gain of the past six sessions.