Stocks seesawed on Thursday while investors digested new developments in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and Wall Street's volatile week approached its end.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 70.11 points higher at 24,597.38 after alternating between gains and losses throughout the day. The fell marginally to 2,650.54, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.4 percent to 7,070.33 as Amazon and Alphabet gave up their initial gains.

Equities rose broadly earlier in the day, with the Dow rising more than 200 points at its session high. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose as much as 0.7 percent.

"It seems like things are headed in the right direction," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. But "we're going to be moving a lot until we get some resolution on tariffs."

He said positive sentiment around trade and a sharp rebound in General Electric contributed to the early rise in equities.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported Chinese state-owned companies had bought at least 500,000 tons of U.S. soybeans. It was the first major U.S. soybean purchases in more than six months, and the clearest sign to date that China plans to step up efforts to support its slowing economy.

President Donald Trump also said he would intervene in the Justice Department's case against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou if it would help smooth over U.S.-China trade relations. Meng was arrested earlier this month; her arrest is seen as a possible detriment to U.S.-China trade talks.