Associated Press Business Writer Stanchion
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are gathering worldwide on Monday after President Donald Trump relaxed some of his tariffs for at least now.
The S&P 500 was 1.5% higher in early trading. It’s coming from a chaotic week that has overcome historic shaking as financial markets struggle to keep up with Trump’s moves on tariffs.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 441 points (1.1%) as of 9:35am, with the Nasdaq Composite rising 2%.
Apple, Nvidia and other large tech companies led on Wall Street after Trump said he exempt smartphones, computers and other electronic devices from his strict tariffs. Such exemptions should help our importers. This doesn’t involve choosing to give customers high costs or hit their profits.
Apple rose 5.3%, while Nvidia rose 2.3%, Dell Technologies rose 5.9%.
Similarly, stock markets in other countries bounced after a cooldown in Trump’s trade war with China, the world’s second-largest economy. The index rose 2.4% in France, 2.7% in Germany, 1.2% in Japan and 1% in South Korea.
But remedies may prove fleeting. Trump’s tariff rollout is full of broad conformance and start, and officials in his administration said this recent exemption for the electronics was temporary.
Nevertheless, China’s Commerce Department welcomed the change in Sunday’s statement as a small step, even if the US asked to cancel the remaining tariffs altogether. Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday began a diplomatic tour in Southeast Asia and said no one would win the trade war, wanting to present China as a force of stability in contrast to Trump’s enthusiastic moves over tariffs.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs rose 2.7% after reporting profits in the recent quarter were stronger than expected. He joined other major banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Perhaps more encouraging for Wall Street, the bond market also showed a mild increase signal. After a sudden, horrifying rise last week, the Treasury Department has eased a bit.
US government bonds have been considered some of the world’s safest, if not the safest, investments, so the Treasury usually drops when fear is high in the market. However, last week, Treasury bond yields rose very sharply. The value of the US dollar also fell against other currencies in another move. Investors suggest that they may not be able to see the US as the perfect place to keep cash in stressful moments.
When Trump announced a 90-day suspension for many of the tariffs last week, he noted a move in the bond market that showed investors were “a little sick.”
In 2010, the Treasury yield returned to 4.40%. It jumped from 4.01% the previous week to 4.48% on Friday.
In China, stock index rose 2.4% in Hong Kong and 0.8% in Shanghai after the government reported China’s exports had skyrocketed 12.4% in March from the previous year’s activities as businesses rushed to beat the rise in US tariffs imposed by Trump.
AP writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed.
Original issue: April 14th, 2025 8:20am EDT
