AP/Richard Drew

Global stocks surged Thursday after China signaled trade talks with the US could be back on.

The US and China are discussing in-person trade negotiations, China's Commerce Ministry said.

The ministry said China wanted to settle the dispute calmly and avoid further escalation.

Italian stocks climbed after the leaders of Italy's Five Star Movement and Democratic Party agreed to form a coalition government.

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Global stocks surged Thursday after China signaled that trade talks with the US could be back on, fueling hopes for a deal to end the yearlong trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The US and China are discussing in-person trade talks that were scheduled for September, China's Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Gao Feng, the ministry's spokesman, told reporters that China would prefer to settle the issue calmly and avoid further escalation. China doesn't plan to immediately retaliate against President Donald Trump's latest tariff hikes.

Market sentiment has flip-flopped in line with comments and tweets from Trump about the progress of trade negotiations. He last week said Chinese officials had asked members of his administration to restart trade talks earlier this week. However, China's Foreign Ministry said it was "not aware" of any such conversations.

"As long as the US-China trade dispute remains unresolved, it's hard to see a sustainable rally in equities," Hussein Sayed, the chief market analyst at FXTM, said in a morning note. "And with new trade tariffs coming up next week, expect further negative impact on economic data."

The Trump administration has downplayed the prospect of a swift resolution. It's "unlikely anything quick will happen," the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Italian stocks climbed after Italy's Five Star Movement agreed to form a coalition government with the country's Democratic Party. Giuseppe Conte is set to stay on as prime minister.

Here's the market roundup as of 10:40 a.m. in New York:

US stocks rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, while the Nasdaq jumped 1.1%.

and the rose 0.8%, while the jumped 1.1%. European equities rose with Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.8%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 up 1%. Italy's FTSE MIB rose 2% to near its highest level since August 2.

and Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.8%, and the up 1%. Italy's rose 2% to near its highest level since August 2. Asian indexes were mixed, with China's Shanghai Composite down 0.1%, Japan's Nikkei down 0.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.3%.

down 0.1%, Japan's down 0.1%, and Hong Kong's up 0.3%. Oil prices were also mixed, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.7% at $56.20 a barrel, while Brent crude was down 0.1% at $59.90.

crude up 0.7% at $56.20 a barrel, while crude was down 0.1% at $59.90. Gold was up 0.2% at $1,551.

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