US stocks ended higher on Thursday as investors cheered new trade agreement between the United States and Britain, while US President Donald Trump signalled upcoming talks with China would be more substantial than initially thought. The Nasdaq Composite rose over one percent, Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 0.6 percent, S&P 500 added 0.58 percent.
On the economic front, weekly initial jobless claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 228,000 last week.