Wall Street rises as Trump holds out China trade hope

Wall Street on Monday recovered a chunk of last week’s sharp losses, with investors finding some comfort in President Donald Trump’s rosy talk of a China trade deal.

During an economic summit in France, the president reversed himself yet again, telling reporters the United States and China were set to resume efforts to resolve their year-long trade war despite some contradiction from Beijing.

The conflict suffered major escalations last week when Trump said the US did not need a deal, raised tariffs on Chinese goods, and said he was “ordering” US companies to leave the country.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average gained just over than 1.0 per cent to end the session at 25,898.83, while the broader S&P 500 gained 1.1 per cent to close at 2,878.38.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.3 per cent, settling at 7,853.74.

Despite the gains at the start of the week, all three indexes are still on track to close out the month in the red for the first time since May.

“Considering the magnitude of the loss on Friday, the rally is a very mild one,” Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital told AFP.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainties.” Trade-exposed companies posted gains, with iPhone maker Apple rising 1.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, drug maker Celgene rose 3.2 per cent on news it is selling its psoriasis drug Otezla to Amgen to clear the way for Celgene’s acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Shares in Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb also rose 3.2 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson gained 0.8 per cent, before an Oklahoma judge ordered the company to pay USD 572 million for its role in the state’s opioid addiction crisis. The stock shot up in after-hours trading.