NEW YORK, April 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher on Thursday, with 8 of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.

Shares of JD.com and shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group rose 1.9 percent and 1.46 percent respectively, leading the advancers in the top 10 stocks of the index, while shares of BeiGene fell 0.35 percent as the biggest laggard among the 10 stocks.

Shares of Alibaba and Baidu, another two Chinese tech giants listed in the U.S. equity market, rose 0.29 percent and 0.57 percent respectively on Thursday.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday as signs showed that the United States has opened doors for trade talks with China.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday he expected the United States and China would work out their trade differences over time and that trade barriers likely "will come down on both sides," according to CNBC.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 240.92 points, or 0.99 percent, to 24,505.22. The S&P 500 increased 18.15 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,662.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 34.44 points, or 0.49 percent, to 7,076.55.

The Cboe Volatility index, widely considered the best fear gauge in the stock market, dropped 5.58 percent to 18.94 on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index stood at 3,022.36, marking a 2.22-percent decrease for the year-to-date returns.