Stocks on Wall Street surged to multi-month highs on Monday as relief swept through financial markets following a significant breakthrough in trade relations between Washington and Beijing. The S&P 500 climbed above its 200-day moving average, a technical benchmark not seen since March, signaling renewed investor optimism after a turbulent stretch driven by global trade fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.51%, reaching its highest level in over a month, while the Nasdaq Composite soared 3.34%—a peak unmatched in more than two months. The S&P 500 gained 2.53%, further underscoring the positive shift in market sentiment.
Gains were broad-based, with heavyweight technology names leading the charge. Nvidia shares jumped 4%, while Tesla rose 4.7%. Semiconductor stocks received a particular boost, with the sector’s benchmark index rallying 5.9% to more than a two-month high. Apple also saw considerable momentum, surging 4.9% amid reports the company may hike prices for its upcoming iPhone releases. The stock later extended those gains to over 6%.
Investors appeared to welcome the U.S.-China steps to de-escalate trade tensions, hoping that reduced tariffs will lessen headwinds for the global economy and corporate earnings.
The United States and China have agreed to significantly scale back tariffs over the coming 90 days, signaling a notable easing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
During high-level negotiations in Geneva over the weekend, both the United States and China agreed to a significant reduction of tariffs, with each side committing to cut duties on the other’s goods to 10 percent from the previous levels of 145 percent and 125 percent, respectively.
However, the US will maintain its existing 20 percent tariff on Chinese imports related to fentanyl. This means that, while China’s effective tariff rate on US products drops to 10 percent, the overall US tariff on Chinese goods remains at 30 percent, combining the 10 percent general rate with the additional fentanyl-related duties.
Both the US and China affirmed their commitment to ongoing dialogue, with plans to continue negotiations on broader economic and trade policy issues in the months ahead.
