US close: Xi what a guy, say investors as Dow soars on China comments
US stocks surged on Tuesday as investors cheered comments by China President Xi Jinping that appeared to take the heat of the trade spat with his US counterpart Donald Trump.
At the closing bell the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.79% to 24,408, the S&P 500 was 1.67% higher at 2,565 and the Nasdaq rose 2.07% to 7,094.
In a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia, seen by many as Asia's Davos, President Xi - who made no reference to the trade row with the US - said he will "significantly lower" tariffs on car imports this year and ease restrictions on foreign ownership in the industry as soon as possible. He also said he would expand the protection of intellectual property.
"The cold war and zero-sum mentality looks out of place in today’s world. Arrogance or only focusing one’s own interests will get nowhere. Only peaceful development and cooperation can truly bring win-win or all-win results,” he said.
On the data front, the latest survey from the National Federation of Independent Business showed small business sentiment in the US deteriorated more than expected in March.
The small business optimism index fell to 104.7 last month from 107.6 in February, missing expectations for a reading of 107.0 but still among the highest readings in survey history.
For the first time since 1982, taxes received the fewest number of votes as the number one problem.
NFIB president chief executive officer Juanita Duggan said: "It has been a remarkable 16 months for small business optimism."
"This is the first time in 35 years where the fewest number of small business owners have told us that taxes are their number one business problem. They’ve been so optimistic that they feel confident enough to raise wages and invest in their business, which grows the economy."
The next focus will be the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting on Wednesday, along with US inflation figures for the same month.
In corporate news, shares of all thirty Dow components gained ground after trading began, led by Intel, Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar, all of whose shares were climbing more than 2.5%.
Exxon and sector peer Chevron were boosted by rise in the crude oil price.
Elsewhere, VeriFone Systems stock soared 52.03% after agreeing to a $3.4bn private equity acquisition by a group led by Francisco Partners and Tupperware Brands dropped 11.49% after cutting its first-quarter earnings guidance late on Monday.
Procter & Gamble shares rose as the company increased its quarterly dividend to 71.72 cents a share.
Shares in medical image products maker Analogic Corp fell as it announced a $1.1bn sale to private-equity firm Altaris Capital Partners.
Facebook shares were down as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg testified in a joint hearing held by two Senate committees into the social media website and its handling of users' data.
Dow Jones - Risers
Boeing Co. (BA) $334.71 3.79%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $148.05 3.47%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $51.27 3.47%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $65.89 3.45%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $42.51 3.25%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $77.07 2.94%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.27 2.88%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $118.84 2.47%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $92.88 2.32%
3M Co. (MMM) $216.97 1.95%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $67.02 -0.24%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $86.45 0.20%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $78.36 0.26%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.98 0.34%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $137.84 0.44%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $173.46 0.55%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $56.48 0.57%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $130.22 0.57%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $122.94 0.59%
American Express Co. (AXP) $92.98 0.91%
S&P 500 - Risers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $8.70 7.54%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $30.42 7.00%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $54.07 6.82%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $33.60 6.77%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $17.00 6.72%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.50 6.06%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $25.93 6.05%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $14.77 6.03%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $227.91 5.80%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $69.60 5.61%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Crown Castle International (CCI) $103.64 -4.80%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $47.46 -4.74%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $137.35 -4.08%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $22.90 -3.54%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $95.86 -3.52%
TEGNA Inc (TGNA) $10.60 -2.75%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $63.09 -2.73%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $36.29 -2.18%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $112.90 -1.94%
PPL Corp. (PPL) $27.70 -1.60%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $227.91 5.80%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $63.13 5.67%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $59.35 5.44%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $50.48 5.25%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $304.70 5.19%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $108.57 4.61%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $165.04 4.50%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $68.12 4.22%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $221.06 4.20%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $41.52 4.19%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
American Airlines Group (AAL) $47.46 -4.74%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $308.24 -2.61%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $153.83 -1.30%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $129.84 -0.67%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $183.55 -0.47%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $33.86 -0.27%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $41.74 0.14%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.27 0.16%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $56.32 0.16%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $56.74 0.30%