Stocks surge as Trump calms investor fears over his trade war with China

Reuters

Stocks rose on Monday after President Trump said China wants to return to the negotiating table to make a trade deal
His comments soothed anxious investors that were bracing for a more prolonged trade war over the weekend.
While speaking at a press conference at the Group of Seven summit in France, the president said Chinese officials asked to restart trade talks over a series of phone calls with members of his administration on Sunday.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was "not aware" of the conversations Trump was referring to on Monday.
The news just days comes after the President Trump ordered US companies to leave China in response to the country’s plan to slap tariffs on $75 billion worth of US products.
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Stocks rallied on Monday as President Trump said China wanted to restart trade negotiations, calming investors that were preparing for an extended trade war after an explosive weekend of tariff announcements.

While speaking to reporters at the Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, the president said China asked to return to trade talks over a series of phone calls with high-level officials in the Trump administration on Sunday. Trump also said that the odds of a trade deal were better now than at any point since negotiations started last year.

Geng Shuang, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, said he was "not aware" of the phone calls Trump was referring to on Monday. The editor of the The Global Times, an organ of the communist party, also said based on his knowledge, no high-level talks between the US and China took place over the weekend.

The developments come just days after China announced plans to impose tariffs on $75 billion worth of US products, while Trump fired back with increased duties on his administration’s existing tariffs on Chinese goods. The president also ordered US companies to leave China in response to the new tariffs.

Here’s a look at the major indexes as of the 4 p.m. close on Monday:

The S&P 500 rose 1.10%, to 2,878.38.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.05%, to 25,898.83.
The Nasdaq Composite increased 1.32%, to 7,853.74.

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Amgen agreed to buy Otezla, a key psoriasis drug made by Celgene, for $13.4 billion. The transaction could help Celgene’s proposed $74 billion merger with Bristol-Myers Squibb move past anti-trust regulators. Shares of Celgene rose as much as 5.7%, while Bristol-Myers climbed 3.2%.

Shares of Lyft gained as much as 3.6% on Monday after Guggenheim partners upgraded the company to a "buy" with a price target of $60. The firm cited the ride-sharing company’s strong second-quarter earnings as the justification for the upgrade.

Beyond Meat’s stock rose as much as 6% after the company announced its testing a plant-based fried "chicken" product with KFC. The partnership joins a growing list of collaborations for the alternative-meat provider.

Within the S&P 500, these were the largest gainers:

DISH Network: 3.9%
CenturyLink: 3.5%
Bristol-Myers Squibb: 3.3%

And the largest decliners:

Philip Morris: (-4.3%)
L Brands: (-3.5%)
Garrett Motion: (-3.4%)

Every sector within the S&P 500 gained on Monday. Communications stocks rose 1.4%, as utilities, technology, financials and consumer staples also climbed more than 1%.

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