New York, Oct 14 (AP) US stocks are closing higher and recovering more than half of their sell-off from Friday. The S&P 500 climbed 1.6per cent Monday, its best day since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.3per cent, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.2per cent. The indexes leapt after President Donald Trump softened his criticism of China, just a couple of days after he shocked the market by threatening much higher tariffs on the world's second-largest economy. Continued excitement about artificial-intelligence technology also helped drive the market, and Broadcom jumped to one of Wall Street's biggest gains. Bond trading was closed in the US for a holiday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — And back up goes Wall Street. US stocks are rallying Monday after President Donald Trump said " it will all be fine,” just days after he sent the market reeling by threatening much higher tariffs on China.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.5per cent to recover more than half its drop from Friday, and it was heading toward its best day since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 581 points, or 1.3per cent, as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.1per cent higher.
“Don't worry about China,” Trump said on his social media platform Sunday. He also said that China's leader, Xi Jinping, “doesn't want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” It was a sharp turnaround from the anger Trump displayed on Friday, when the S&P 500 tumbled to its worst drop since April after he accused China of “ a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations." Trump pointed to “an extremely hostile letter” from China describing curbs to exports of rare earths, which are materials used in the manufacturing of everything from personal electronics to jet engines. Trump said at the time that he may place an additional 100per cent tax on imports from China starting on November 1.
For its part, China urged the United States to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats. “We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online.
Hours later on Sunday, Trump posted his less confrontational talk about China on Truth Social. The backtrack in anger, which also came before trading began on Wall Street, raised hopes that the world's two largest economies could find a way to allow global trade to continue smoothly.
The down-and-up moves for the market echo its manic swings during April. That's when Trump shocked investors with his “Liberation Day” announcement of worldwide tariffs, only to eventually relent on many to give time to negotiate trade deals with other countries.
If this time ends up similarly, potentially even after a sharp drop for stock prices, subsiding trade tensions and uncertainty could allow for a rolling recovery to continue into 2026, according to Morgan Stanley strategists led by Michael Wilson.
To be sure, the US stock market may have been primed for a drop. It was already facing criticism that prices had shot too high following a torrid 35per cent run for the S&P 500 from a low in April. The index, which dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts, is still near its all-time high set last week.
Not only did Trump's backdown from tariffs help stocks soar since April, so did expectations for several cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve to help the economy.
Critics say the market looks too expensive now after prices rose much faster than corporate profits. Worries are particularly high about companies in the artificial-intelligence industry, where pessimists hear echoes of the 2000 dot-com bubble that imploded.
Broadcom jumped 9.5per cent for one of Monday's biggest gains in the S&P 500 after announcing a collaboration with OpenAI. Broadcom will help develop and deploy custom AI accelerators that the maker of ChatGPT will design.
For stocks broadly to look less expensive, either prices need to fall, or companies' profits need to rise.
That's raising the stakes for the upcoming earnings reporting season, with big US companies lined up to say how much profit they made during the summer. JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson and United Airlines are some of the big names on the calendar this upcoming week.
Fastenal tumbled 6.4per cent after the maker of fasteners and safety supplies reported a profit for the latest quarter that was slightly weaker than analysts expected.
At Bank of America, strategist Savita Subramanian is optimistic that S&P 500 companies can deliver a bigger overall profit than analysts expected. Besides reports showing a resilient US economy, she also pointed in a BofA Global Research report to how the US dollar's weakening against other currencies boosts the value of big US companies' sales made overseas.
In stock markets abroad, indexes edged higher in Europe following losses in Asia, which had their first opportunity to react to Trump's threat from Friday of additional tariffs on China.
Stocks fell 1.5per cent in Hong Kong and 0.2per cent in Shanghai.
China reported its global exports rose 8.3per cent in September from a year earlier, the strongest growth in six months and further evidence that its manufacturers are shifting sales from the United States to other markets.
This report includes content sourced from Press Trust of India (PTI), edited for clarity and context.
