- Stocks surged in early trading Monday. The jump, which saw the Dow climb over 1,000 points, came after the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on major tariffs. Stocks are now close to where they were at the beginning of Trump's second administration.
Stocks roared back as trading began on Monday on news that the U.S. and China had agreed to a 90-day pause in major tariffs. While the suspension is a temporary one, that was enough to fuel investor optimism that a permanent solution will be worked out.
All major indices opened sharply higher. As of 9:40 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,025 points (2.5%), while the Nasdaq index surged 621 points (3.5%) and the S&P 500 was up 145 (2.5%).
The gains don't completely erase the losses major indices have seen since President Donald Trump began his second administration, but stocks are getting close to where they stood on Jan. 20. The Dow is now just shy of 1,200 points off of where it stood on that date. Nasdaq is 95 points short of the starting point and the S&P 500 is 192 points below where it was at the start of Trump 2.0.
“I’m happy to report that we’ve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Sunday.
The deal will cut U.S. duties on Chinese goods to 30% from the current 145%. Beijing said it would cut its blanket tariffs on American products from 125 to 10%. The reductions on both sides will go into effect on Wednesday.
A joint statement by the White House and China's Ministry of Commerce said the pause was made in the “spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect.”
While tariffs are certainly on investors' minds, other factors could weigh on the rally this week. The Labor Department will publish its consumer price index on Tuesday and its producer price index on Thursday, which will provide more clues on inflation after tariffs began taking hold last month.
