Major United States benchmarks lifted on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) as investor sentiment improved on hopes that President Donald Trump may soften his tariff plans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 598 points, or 1.4%, on Monday to close at 42,583.3, The S&P 500 climbed 1.8% to 5,767.6, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.3%, settling at 18,188.6.
Tech stocks led the rally, with Tesla rebounding 11.9% after nine consecutive weeks of losses. Meta Platforms and Nvidia each gained over 3%, while Amazon and Google parent Alphabet rose 3.6% and 2.2%, respectively.
Investor jitters over inflation and a potential recession remain heightened ahead of Trump’s April 2 deadline for implementing reciprocal tariffs.
However, reports suggested that the scope of the tariffs could be narrower than initially expected, with potential delays for sector-specific duties.
At a Monday event announcing Hyundai’s US$20 billion U.S. investment, Trump signalled a willingness to grant tariff exemptions to certain countries.
“I may give a lot of countries breaks,” Trump said, referring to the reciprocal tariffs that would match foreign import taxes dollar for dollar. “We might be even nicer than that.”
While Trump did not specify which nations might qualify for exemptions, his comments marked a shift from his previous hardline stance against carve-outs.
Last Friday, he hinted at potential “flexibility” in the tariff structure but did not provide further details.
Despite the apparent softening, Trump confirmed that tariffs on key industries, including pharmaceuticals and automobiles, remain on track for implementation in the near future, suggesting they will not be part of the early April rollout.
On the bond markets, the 10-year and 2-year Treasury yields jumped 2.1% and 2.2% to 4.338% and 4.039%, respectively.
