U.S. stocks rose in early trading on Monday, suggesting the recent uptrend in stocks could remain intact, particularly amid signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

What are markets doing?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on 100 points, or 0.4%, to 24,930. If the Dow were to close in positive territory, that would mark its eighth straight advance, the longest positive streak since one that ended Sept. 20.

The S&P 500 rose 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2,737. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31 points, or 0.4%, to 7,435.

Last week, the Dow rose 2.3%, the S&P 500 advanced 2.4%, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.7%.

What is driving the markets?

Some fresh optimism was injected into the market ahead of the trade talks tentatively scheduled for this week between the U.S. and China. President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that he was working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to keep struggling Chinese telecom giant ZTE in business.

The company was hit by sanctions roughly a month ago. The measures ban American companies from selling to it, but Trump tweeted that he has asked for a stay of that order, as ZTE said its survival is being threatened.

Optimism over corporate earnings and a pullback in bond yields and the dollar all contributed to gains last week. Rising interest rates can peel money away from stocks, and a stronger currency can be a headwind for companies with overseas businesses, making their products more costly.

No top-tier U.S. economic reports are on the calendar for Monday, but the rest of the week will be busy enough, with retail sales due Tuesday and indicators showing the state of the housing market coming as well.

Economic preview: Inflation pause lends helping hand to borrowers

What are strategists saying?

“Markets are hoping that the olive branch extended by President Trump to Chinese telecoms company ZTE…and other supportive tweets yesterday suggesting that the trade talks this week would ‘all work out’—are an indication that he is stepping back from his hard-line approach,” Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said in a note.

What stocks are in focus?

Xerox Corp. shares dropped 6.4% after the technology firm said it would abandon its merger deal with Fujifilm Holdings Corp. as it reached a settlement with two of its biggest shareholders. Subsequently, analysts at J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to neutral, saying the terminated deal elevated near-term risks.

Shares of Symantec Corp. rose 10.3%. The gain comes a day after it plummeted 35% on the back of the company’s audit committee announcing an internal investigation, which spurred a number of analyst downgrades.

Shares of Tesla Inc. rose 0.8%. Matthew Schwall, a senior executive who is the company’s main technical contact with U.S. safety regulators, has reportedly left for rival Waymo LLC. That comes after news Tesla’s top engineer overseeing auto development was taking a sabbatical.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to assume majority ownership of its Chinese fund-management joint venture, its latest step toward establishing a firmer foothold in China after Beijing recently relaxed its rules for foreign ownership of financial firms.

Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. the majority owner of MoviePass, jumped 8% in early trading. The stocks plummeted nearly 70% last week.

Which Fed speakers are in the spotlight

Among Federal Reserve speakers in the spotlight Monday, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester in a speech at the Global Interdependence Center’s central banking series in Paris, France said the central bank may need to raise interest rates above 3%. She said the Fed may be looking at higher interest rates to achieve stable inflation and low unemployment goals.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard was slated to speak about cryptocurrencies at the CoinDesk Consensus 2018 conference in New York.

What are other markets doing?

European stocks slipped as traders tracked developments in Italian politics.

Oil futures rose modestly, with West Texas Intermediate crude rising 0.1% to $70.78 a barrel.

The dollar was down for the fourth session in a row, while gold was modestly lower.