Wall Street stocks were mostly higher early on Wednesday, taking a broadly benign view of lingering trade fights, including the escalating US-China battle.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 26 369.09.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1% to 2 908.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1% to 7 948.85.
China rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that it was it was tailoring retaliatory tariffs goods with an eye towards hitting the US president in the upcoming midterm elections.
It called on the United States to show "respect" to China a day after both countries announced new tariffs on each other.
US stocks scored solid gains on Tuesday following the tit-for-tat policies, a sign of the market's underlying bullishness.
Market watchers were also monitoring trade talks between Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
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