A senior White House official said the U.S. is "absolutely not" considering an interim trade deal with China.

Bloomberg News reported earlier Thursday that the Trump administration discussed putting together a limited trade deal that would delay and remove some China tariffs, citing five people familiar with the matter. The news had driven stocks to session highs.

Stocks pared gains after the unnamed senior White House official denied the report of such an interim deal.

Trump on Wednesday announced he would delay the tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 as a "gesture of good will" to China. The postponement was at the request of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the nation's top trade negotiator, Trump said.

China said Thursday that domestic companies have reached out to inquire about prices of U.S. agricultural products. Trump tweeted that it is expected China will be buying "large amounts" of U.S. farm goods.

The two countries agreed to meet in early October in Washington and hold deputy-level discussions leading up to the meeting to lay the groundwork for a possible deal. Liu said Thursday that the talks next week will focus on trade balance, market access and investor protection.