·       U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday as hopes of a resolution to the trade dispute between the United States and China boosted industrial shares and lifted investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 162.94 points, or 0.67 percent, to 24,370.1, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 19.86 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,635.96 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 49.77 points, or0.71 percent, to 7,084.46.

·       Stocks spiked higher in afternoon trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed lifting some or all tariffs imposed on Chinese imports and suggested offering a tariff rollback during trade discussions scheduled for Jan. 30.

The report sent stocks to their highs of the day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 250 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both rose about 1 percent following the report.

·       However, the major indexes came off their highs after a Treasury Department spokesperson working with the trade team told CNBC: "Neither Secretary Mnuchin nor Ambassador Lighthizer have made any recommendations to anyone with respect to tariffs or other parts of the negotiation with China. This is an ongoing process with the Chinese that is nowhere near completion."

A senior administration official who participated in a trade meeting with the president on Wednesday later told CNBC that there is "no discussion of lifting tariffs now." The official also said President Donald Trump "has no interest in making decisions now, it would put him in a weaker position." "

·       The good news is the reaction shows how much of a headwind the trade situation is on the market right now. It's like a coiled spring ready to react to a whiff of good news. The bad news is it needs to be more official and less floated," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities.

·       Asia Pacific markets rose on Friday morning as investors reacted to a report that said American officials were weighing the possibility of easing tariffs on China, in a bid to push forward trade talks.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 percent in early trade while the Topix index added 0.8 percent. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.37 percent.

Analysts at Eurasia Group said that President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's desire to avoid tariff escalation reduces the probability of talks breaking down within the first half of the year.