Stocks open July with a rally on US-China trade talks

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street applauded a cease-fire in the U.S. trade war with China and started July with a bang.

The S&P 500 index was on track for a record high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 130 points in midday trading Monday. Investors snapped up riskier holdings as the world's two biggest economies agreed to continue trade talks. The U.S. agreed to hold off on imposing new tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods, although existing tariffs on $250 billion of imports remain in place.

Technology stocks and banks led the gains. Traders turned their backs on more defensive holdings, pushing bond and gold prices lower. Utilities lagged the market in another sign that Wall Street had a bigger appetite for risk.

Chipmakers rallied on plans by the U.S. to loosen some sales restrictions to Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. Broadcom rose 4.2% and Nvidia rose 2.2%. Technology giants Apple and Microsoft also helped lead gains.

Banks helped lead the broader market higher. Bank of America rose 1.6% and JPMorgan Chase gained 1.5%. Consumer product makers and other consumer companies also moved higher. Many of those companies, including Nike, have much to gain or lose in the ongoing trade dispute.

Oil prices rose and pushed energy stocks higher as OPEC considers extending production cuts.

Wall Street just finished its best month since January and that helped push the S&P 500 index to a 3.8% second quarter gain. The index is now up more than 18% heading into the second half of 2019.

The gains in the first half of the year were marked by months of volatile trading as investors rode the ups and downs of the trade war. That volatility is unlikely to fade as the U.S. and China head into yet another round of trade talks.

The market had a...