NEW YORK, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, as Wall Street remained optimistic for a potential approach to ease lingering U.S.-China trade tensions.

Photo: VCG

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 155.92 points, or 0.57 percent, to 27,648.48. The S&P 500 rose 13.99 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,090.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 45.22 points, or 0.54 percent, to 8,455.85.

The overwhelming majority of the 30 blue-chip stocks in the Dow traded higher around market opening, with shares of trade bellwethers Caterpillar and 3M climbing nearly 1.9 percent and over 1.3 percent, among the best performers.

Chip stocks, normally sensitive to trade, also notched gains, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rising over 1.6 percent. Among big corporate names, Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology saw their shares advancing nearly 1.6 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around market opening, with the energy sector up 1.15 percent, leading the winners.

Shares of Qualcomm rose nearly 7.8 percent, after the U.S. semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company reported third-quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates, as boosted by its licensing operation.