The Dow is on the verge of its best close in 6 months as the stock market extends rally

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Friday afternoon looked poised to book its highest closing level since Feb. 1, according to FactSet data. A late-session 150-point rally for the blue-chip gauge, on the back of growing optimism that China and the U.S. can strike a detente on trade by November, has helped power the recent climb. If the Dow DJIA, +0.43% can finish above 25,709, it would mark its best finish since Feb. 1, when the gauge closed at 26,187. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.33% advanced 0.5% at 2,854, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.13% advanced 0.2% at 7,825.

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Dow logs highest close since February on optimism over trade talks

U.S. stocks gain for a second session Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at its highest since February as optimism that the U.S. and China will eventually resolve their trade standoff offset fears about Turkey’s currency crisis.

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