U.S. stocks showed signs of stabilization on Thursday, but their gains were limited by conflicting statements made by President Trump and the Chinese government on trade negotiations.
Trump said the negotiations with China went smoothly, but a senior Chinese diplomat said it was "naked economic terrorism" to provoke trade disputes.
The uncertainty of the trade war has recently disturbed investors. In the first four months of this year, the S&P 500 index rose by more than 17%, helped by optimism about a possible trade agreement between China and the United States.
However, this optimism has faded, with escalating disputes between the two countries weighing heavily on the U.S. stock market in May, with the three major stock indexes falling at least 5% this month. Thursday's rise was the first time this week that major U.S. stock indexes rose.
"After several days of falling, the market usually stabilizes for a while, collectively takes a breather and reassesses risks," said Ben Phillips, chief investment officer of Eventshares.
"The market is gradually realizing that we are not getting really clean or clear information, there will be a lot of noise, ready to deal with it."
A government report released Thursday showed that the U.S. sharply revised its inflation data for the first quarter as domestic demand slowed sharply, while also slightly revised its initial economic growth estimate published in April.
The Dow Jones industrial average. DJI rose 43.47 points, or 0.17%, to 25,169.88; the S&P 500 index. SPX rose 5.85 points, or 0.21%, to 2,788.87; and the Nasdaq index. IXIC rose 20.41 points, or 0.27%, to 7,567.72.
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