US stocks soar despite chaos in Washington

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

US stocks climbed after a roller-coaster week, as threats of a trade war between the world's two largest economies eased. Investors shrugged off chaos in Washington, including the FBI raid of a top Trump lawyer's office and hotel room.

Here's the scoreboard:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,407.86 +428.76 (+1.79%)

S&P 500: 2,659.04 +45.88 (+1.76%)

AUD/USD: 0.7764 +0.0067 (+0.87%)

ASX 200 SPI futures: 5,827.5 +33.5 (+0.58%)

1. US stocks made a comeback from recent turmoil after US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping softened their tones on trade.
2. Investors shook off turbulence at the White House. The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the New York office of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen as US markets closed on Monday.
3. Oil rallied as trade war tensions eased, and markets digested unrest in Syria. Brent oil futures rose to their highest in more than three years.
4. The Russian ruble continued a steady drop, as US sanctions against dozens of Kremlin-connected individuals and entities set in. It was down about 10% versus the dollar this week, and analysts think things are only going to get worse.
5. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before US legislators. Shares of the company rose as members of two Senate committees hammered Zuckerberg with questions about a recent data breach scandal and Russian interference in the US presidential election.

Here is Wednesday's economic calendar:

• Zuckerberg will testify again on Capitol Hill.
• The Federal Reserve will release inflation data and the transcript from the last FOMC meeting.