The whiff of fresh stimulus from the European Central Bank and renewed hopes for an end to the trade war propped up stocks and left the S&P 500 within 1 per cent of its closing high.

Wall Street’s benchmark settled 0.95 per cent below its April 30 peak, but had been as little as 0.4 per cent away at its intraday high on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 0.7 per cent short of its peak, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has a bit more work to do, down by 2.6 per cent.

The lofty levels come against a mixed backdrop of geopolitical and economic conditions. The trade war between the US and its allies has dragged on for months and is weighing on consumer and business sentiment.

Earlier this month, Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell pledged the central bank would “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion”, prompting markets to bump up the odds of an interest-rate cut (or more) this year.

Hints this year that the Fed may loosen monetary policy have typically been accompanied by solid rallies for Wall Street. And given today’s market reaction, investors seem similarly excited by the prospect the ECB may also join a global policy easing party.