US Stocks End Mainly Higher On Trade Relief

Wall Street stocks finished a volatile session mostly higher on Friday after newly-announced US policies to punish China did not threaten a trade detente between Washington and Beijing.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 25,383.11, down 0.1 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 3,044.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3 percent to 9,489.87.

Trading was choppy throughout the session, with major indices sinking into negative territory as a mid-afternoon White House speech by President Donald Trump began.

Trump harshly criticised China's handling of the coronavirus, blaming the country for the deaths of 100,000 Americans, and announcing new actions including an end to funding for the World Health Organization.

He also ordered probes of Chinese companies listed on American financial markets.

But Trump made no mention of the "phase one" trade agreement with China that walked back earlier trade tariffs, nor did he threaten new levies on US imports from the country. (AFP)