Markets Right Now: Stocks open higher on China trade hopes
AP
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The latest on developments in financial markets (all times local):

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Trader Jonathan Corpina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 28, 2018. (File photo: AP)

9:35 a.m.

Stocks are snapping higher in early trading on Wall Street on the last day of a volatile year as hopes grew for progress in resolving trade frictions between the US and China.

Big-name technology companies and retailers, which have been badly bruised in the barrage of selling this month, clawed higher early Monday. Apple rose 1.9 percent and Amazon added 2.8 percent.

Traders were encouraged by news that US President Donald Trump said he expected to resolve trade friction with China after speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The S&P 500 rose 22 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,508.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 255 points, or 1.1 percent, to 23,317. The Nasdaq rose 74 points, or 1.1 percent, to 6,658.