Dow Jones up for 9th straight week on US-China trade optimism

U.S. stocks ended the week higher, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its ninth straight weely gain -- the longest such winning streak in almost 24 years -- on optimism about current high-level trade talks in Washington between American and Chinese officials.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 26,000 points for the first time since Nov. 8. The Nasdaq Composite rose for the ninth time in the last 10 trading sessions, while the broad-based S&P 500 index booked its fourth consecutive weekly increase.

U.S. and Chinese officials were reportedly hashing out memorandums of understanding on key issues like intellectual property protection that will form the basis of any eventual agreement.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	44296.51	+426.16	+0.97%
SP500	S&P 500	5969.34	+20.63	+0.35%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	19003.651134	+31.23	+0.16%

The market's gains came despite plunging shares of Kraft Heinz, which Thursday disclosed a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its accounting practices.  The Chicago-based company slashed its quarterly dividend to 40 cents and wrote down the value of its key brands by $15 billion, sending shares plummeting.

Other shares in that space also fell, including General Mills, Conagra Brands and Kellogg.

Online e-commerce site Wayfair surged nearly 30 percent after the firm announced revenue increased 40.6 percent to $2 billion in the fourth quarter, slightly above analyst expectations. It reported profit decline of $1.12 per share, also better than Wall Street predicted.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
KHC	THE KRAFT HEINZ CO.	31.81	+0.72	+2.32%
W	WAYFAIR INC.	44.03	+1.40	+3.28%
AN	AUTONATION INC.	172.46	+2.41	+1.42%

AutoNation’s stock declined after the retailer reported less-than-expected quarterly profits of $1.10 per share. The Fort Lauderdale-based firm also said CEO Mike Jackson will vacate the position on March 11 to serve as executive chairman. Current USAA CEO Carl Liebert will replace him.

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In Asian markets on Friday, China's Shanghai Composite ended up 1.9 percent on the day and 4.5 percent for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished with a gain of 0.7 percent and 3 percent for the week, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2 percent, but gained 2.5 percent for the week.

In Europe, The major markets ended the day higher. London's FTSE added 0.2 percent, but fell 0.8 for the week. Germany's DAX was gained 0.2 percent and 1.4 percent for the week, France's CAC added 0.4 percent and gained 1.2 percent for the week.

FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this report.