U.S. stocks rose to records on optimism that the Trump administration will clinch a deal with China on trade and avert fresh tariffs. The pound fell ahead of the first exit polls in the U.K. general election.

The S&P 500 rallied following a Bloomberg report that American officials had reached a deal in principle that only needed Trump’s approval. Shortly after U.S. markets closed, news broke that the president had signed off on the agreement to avert tariffs set for Dec. 15.

A breakthrough on trade would remove a major overhang for equity investors just a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it is no rush to raise interest rates as the economy shows steady improvement. Trade headlines whipsawed stocks all day, as investor optimism rose and fell with the latest negotiation-by-tweet.

Thursday’s gain in American stocks pushed the MSCI All-Country index to its first record since January 2018. The spike in Treasury yields boosted financial stocks, lifting the S&P 500 Financial index past its closing high from May 2007.

In Europe, the central bank said it would maintain bond buying and keep rates low until it gets near its inflation goal. The Swiss franc nudged higher after the central bank left rates unchanged. The pound fell as U.K. voters went to the polls.

Elsewhere, Saudi Aramco shares jumped for a second day, pushing the oil giant’s value beyond the US$2 trillion mark. Oil futures rose. The lira gained as the Turkish central bank delivered another interest-rate cut that exceeded forecasts.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 Index rose 0.9 per cent at 4 p.m. New York time.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8 per cent.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3 per cent.
The MSCI All-World Index rose 0.8 per cent to a record.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6 per cent.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.
The euro was flat at US$1.113.
The British pound lost 0.2 per cent to US$1.3166.
The Japanese yen fell 0.7 per cent to 109.35 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 11 basis points to 1.897 per cent.
The two-year Treasury rate added five basis points to 1.66 per cent.
Germany’s 10-year yield spiked to -0.27 per cent.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.9 per cent to US$59.31 a barrel.
Gold futures fell 0.1 per cent to US$1,474.20 an ounce.