U.S. equity indexes have moved higher on Wednesday on a report that the U.S. and China are making progress on phase one of a trade deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 196 points to 27,698.81 while the S&P 500 rose 20.93 points to 3,114.13 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 47.21 points to 8,567.85.

Bloomberg reported that despite Donald Trump’s comments in London on Tuesday, Beijing and Washington were working on a phase one trade deal that would be finished before another round of tariffs against Chinese goods are scheduled for Dec. 15. One of the matters discussed in trade talks was which tariffs would be rolled back.

Sources informed Bloomberg that neither Trump signing a bill in support of Hong Kong protesters nor legislation designed to sanction China over human rights violations against Uighurs in Xinjiang would scuttle the deal.

On Tuesday, Trump had insisted there was no timetable to completing the trade deal.

“If the U.S. follows through with the threat of tariffs on Dec. 15, that is definitely a re-escalation, and China will retaliate,” said Lu Xiang, an expert in bilateral ties at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. He added Trump is “still weighing the conditions for a deal, but for his political interests, he needs a deal -- no matter if it is signed in December, January or February.”

Private employers added 67,000 jobs in November, the lowest level since May, the ADP National Employment Report said. Economists predicted a gain of 140,000 jobs.

The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing activity index fell to 53.9 in November from 54.7 in October. Economists forecast the index dipping to a reading of 54.5 in November.

U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Randal Quarles testified before Congress Wednesday that how the central bank supervises large banks might have helped cause some of recent turmoil in overnight financial markets, Quarles also said the Fed is reviewing supervisory practices, including internal liquidity stress tests, that might have discouraged banks from investing in repo markets.

Quarles further stated that “the banking system is substantially better prepared to manage unexpected shocks today than it was before the financial crisis. Now, when the waters are relatively calm, is the right time to step back and examine the efficiency and effectiveness of our protection against future storms.”

The Bank of Canada kept its the overnight rate unchanged at 1.75%, citing that its projection for global economic growth appears to be intact. “There is nascent evidence that the global economy is stabilizing, with growth still expected to edge higher over the next couple of years.” The bank stated.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down as CEO and president, respectively, from Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), the parent of Google, but will stay on the board. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai take over as Alphabet's CEO.

Overnight in Asia, markets all finished lower. The Hang Seng fell 1.25% while Japan’s Nikkei-225 dropped 1.05% and China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.21%

European markets all closed higher with the FTSE 100 up 0.42% while Germany's DAX rose 1.16% and France's CAC 40 jumped 1.27%.

Ahead of Thursday's Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna, crude oil futures surged 4.12% to $58.41 per barrel and Brent crude rose 2.41% at $63.23. Gold futures slipped 0.39%.

The euro was down 0.04% to $1.1078 while the pound sterling rose 0.75% at $1.393.

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