·         The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Wednesday on the back of strong quarterly earnings from companies like IBM, United Technologies and Procter & Gamble.

The 30-stock index rose 171.14 points to 24,575.62. Big gains were hard to find away from companies that reported earnings, so the broader market was little changed. The S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to close at 2,638.70, led by a1.2 percent jump in the consumer staples sector. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.1 percent to 7,025.77.

Meanwhile, investors continue to keep a close eye on trade negotiations with the China.

·         White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday that reports of a meeting between U.S. and Chinese trade officials had been canceled. He added that no intermediate gatherings had been scheduled other than the visit by China Vice Premier Liu He.

·         Asia stocks traded cautiously on Thursday morning amid uncertainty over the outlook for the global economy and the ongoing U.S.-China trade fight.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.29 percent in early trade while the Topix index declined 0.17 percent. Over in South Korea, on however, the Kospi rose more than 0.4 percent as shares of chipmaker SK Hynix jumped around 2 percent despite reporting quarterly earnings which were below expectations. The company attributed the profit decline — its first in two years — to lower chip prices.

Concerns remained over the state of U.S.-China trade negotiations following a Tuesday report by the Financial Times which said the U.S. had canceled a trade meeting with Chinese officials. The report was later confirmed by a source familiar with the situation to CNBC’s Kayla Tausche, but White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow, however, denied that report.

Reference: CNBC