NEW YORK, Nov 8 — US stocks were higher late yesterday as the latest signs of progress in US-China trade relations relieved investors, though indexes pared gains after another report raised fresh worries about the outlook for a deal.

China said it had agreed with the United States to remove tariffs in phases, while state-owned Xinhua News Agency said Beijing was also considering removing restrictions on poultry imports.

But indexes pared gains in afternoon trading after a Reuters report, citing sources, said that the White House’s plan to roll back China tariffs faces internal opposition and that no final decision has been made yet.

An interim US-China trade deal is expected to include a US pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for December 15.

“That’s clearly the biggest driver from premarket on,” said Oliver Pursche, chief market strategist of Bruderman Asset Management in New York. “The devil is in the details, but the fact that both sides — and particularly China — has said we’ve come to an agreement — I think that’s what is giving this so much credibility.”

The latest batch of earnings offered some cheer to investors.

The S&P 500 technology index was up 1.1 per cent, with shares of Qualcomm Inc up 6.4 per cent after it forecast current-quarter profit above analysts’ estimates.

Together with Qualcomm, other chipmakers, which have a sizeable exposure to China, also rose, propping the Philadelphia Semiconductor index 1.2 per cent higher.

The trade-sensitive industrials sector was up 0.7 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200.75 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 27,693.31, the S&P 500 gained 10.19 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 3,086.97 and the Nasdaq Composite added 30.79 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 8,441.42.

Also in earnings news, Ralph Lauren Corp surged 14.4 per cent after it topped second-quarter profit expectations, helped by a tighter control on expenses and strong demand for its Polo shirts and tweed jackets in China and Europe.

“Corporate earnings, while down year over year, are better than many had expected, and that’s a plus,” Pursche said.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.30-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 54 new 52-week highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 112 new highs and 75 new lows. — Reuters