Wall Street posts decisive gains as trade headlines boost sentiment

• All 11 major S&P 500 sectors close the day in the positive territory.
• Crude oil recovery boosts energy shares.
• All three major indexes post weekly gains for the fourth straight week.

After starting the day modestly higher, major equity indexes in the U.S. extended their rally to close the week on a positive note. Latest headlines on the U.S. - China trade conflict provided the main boost to the risk-sensitive stocks on Friday.

According to a Bloomberg report, China was planning to offer to the U.S. a more-than-$1 trillion increase on the American imports over a six-year span. Commenting on the market reaction to this development, "It's risk-on again. We've gotten an olive branch from China regarding trade. Obviously there's been a very positive reaction from the market," Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York, told Reuters.

The improved market sentiment and hopes of the trade-war coming to an end helped crude oil prices gain more than 3% on the day and the S&P 500 Energy Index added nearly 2% to become the best performing sector among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors. The trade sensitive Materials and Industrials indexes rose 1.86% and 1.64%, respectively.

The defensive sectors, Real Estate and Utilities, underperformed on Friday but were able to finish the day modestly higher. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 342.69 points, or 1.41%, to 24,712.79, the S&P 500 rose 35.33 points, or 1.34%, to 2,671.29, and the Nasdaq Composite added 72.77 points, or 1.03%, to 7,157.23. For the week, these three major indexes gained 2.96%, 2.87%, and 2.66%, respectively.