The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 90.55 points, or 0.31 percent, to 29,030.22. The S&P 500 rose 6.14 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,289.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.37 points, or 0.08 percent, to 9,258.70.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with utilities up 1.41 percent, leading the advancers. Energy dropped 0.67 percent, the worst-performing group.
China and the United States formally signed their phase-one economic and trade agreement in Washington on Wednesday. The move has helped boost market sentiment, experts noted.
Wall Street also digested a slew of newly-released earnings reports.
Shares of both Goldman Sachs and Bank of America struggled after the two bank giants posted mixed quarterly results.
Expectations for the corporate earnings season were relatively low. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have declined by 2 percent in the fourth quarter, according to FactSet.
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