Stocks and broader markets rallied after Friday’s selloff, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index enjoying their biggest gains since May.
The moves followed comments from President Trump and senior administration officials easing fears of a revived trade war with China. “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment,” Trump said Sunday on his Truth Social platform, adding “The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”
In a weekend interview, Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. had a lot of leverage over China, but added that “Donald Trump is always willing to be a reasonable negotiator.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking early Monday, said the two sides would talk in the coming weeks, and the threatened tariff hike didn’t need to happen.
Assets ranging from gold to oil jumped Monday. The dollar strengthened and stocks advanced 1% or more, with tech shares leading gains. U.S. Treasury markets were shut for Columbus Day.
On Friday, Trump said he would hit China with a 100% extra tariff and introduce new export controls, after Beijing imposed sweeping curbs on rare-earth exports. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite notched their worst days since April.
Stock-benchmarks rallied. The S&P and Nasdaq rose 1.6% and 2.2% respectively, their biggest gains since May 27. The Dow industrials added 588 points, or 1.3%.
Silver futures prices leapt 6.8% to a record $50.13 a troy ounce. Gold prices rallied to another record high.
Oil futures rose, but gains were capped by the Israel-Gaza cease-fire.
