U.S. markets and stock ETFs rallied but slipped toward the end of Monday’s session after the U.S.-China talks proved fruitful, with thawing trade tensions and signs of a likely reprieve fro telecom giant Huawei.
On Monday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was up 1.3%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) was 0.4% higher and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) gained 0.8%.
The U.S. and China agreed to renew trade talks, and President Donald Trump also offered concessions including a stay on any new tariffs and easing restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co Ltd while China agreed to make unspecified new purchases of U.S. farm products, Reuters reports.
“It was kind of a relief rally but there is a lot of unanswered question here,” Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities, told Reuters. “This is not going to get resolved because there was a lunch in Osaka and given how mercurial our president is, who knows what is going to throw him into a tizzy.”
Among the best performing areas on Monday, semiconductor firms whose businesses have been especially vulnerable to higher tariffs surged after the resumption of trade talks.
For now, “we appear to have arrived at almost exactly the minimum positive outcome to justify financial markets’ positive sentiment,” Andrew Jackson, head of fixed income at Hermes Investment Management, told the Wall Street Journal.
Investors were also unsure where the Federal Reserve stands, which previously signaled it may cut interest rates if the economy weakens further due to rising trade barriers.
“From our perspective, [Federal Reserve rate] cuts are justified simply by slower GDP growth caused by other factors independent of trade,” Dev Kantesaria, portfolio manager and founder of Valley Forge Capital, told the WSJ.
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