US stocks continue scaling higher on trade optimism

Major US equity indices built on the positive momentum and opened higher for the fourth consecutive session on Tuesday, supported by a combination of positive factors.

Investors remain optimistic that the planned US-China trade talks, set to resume on Wednesday might help resolve disputes between the world's two largest economies and was seen driving flows towards perceived riskier assets - like equities. This, against the backdrop of encouraging second-quarter earnings season, remained supportive of the market’s recent uptrend. 

Meanwhile, investors also assessed the US President Donald Trump's criticism over the Fed's monetary policy tightening and hence, today's trading action is likely to be on the quieter side as investors found few reasons to continue pushing the markets higher, especially with all the three major indices hold near records.

Moving ahead, this week's release of the latest FOMC meeting minutes and the Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the annual summer retreat in Jackson Hole will now play a key role in setting the near-term tone for the markets.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 75-points to 25,835, while the broader S&P 500 Index added around 10-points to 2,867 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained nearly 35-points to 7,855.