United States stocks advanced on Monday (Tuesday AEST), with two of the country’s benchmark indices setting new record highs amid signs of progress in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 49.2 points, or 0.1%, to close at 45,883.5. The S&P 500 climbed 31.0 points, or 0.5%, to a record close of 6,615.3, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 207.7 points, or 0.9%, also clinching a fresh record at 22,348.8.
President Donald Trump said negotiations between U.S. and Chinese officials had “gone VERY WELL!”, noting that a deal had been reached involving a “certain company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save”, believed to be a reference to TikTok.
The discussions focused on tariff rates and the social media firm’s future ownership.
China’s market regulator separately announced that Nvidia had violated the country’s anti-monopoly law and said it would press ahead with its investigation.
Nvidia shares finished just 0.04% lower, diverging from the rest of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks, which mostly posted gains.
Meanwhile, Tesla rose 3.6% after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a US$1 billion insider stock purchase, his largest ever in the open market and the first significant buy since 2020.
Traders viewed the move as a show of confidence in the company as it pivots focus toward robotics amid heightened competition in the electric vehicle sector.
The gains followed softer economic data showing weakness in the U.S. labour market, fuelling expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday.
Futures markets priced a 95.9% probability of a quarter-point reduction and a 4.1% chance of a half-point cut, according to CME Group FedWatch Tool.
On the bond markets, yields declined, with the 10-year and 2-year Treasury notes each down 0.7% at 4.038% and 3.537%, respectively.
