Stocks rise on electronics tariffs exemption, gold hits new high
Stocks rose on Monday as trade war fears were tempered by Donald Trump's announcement of tariff exemptions for electronics, although the dollar weakened and safe-haven gold hit a fresh record amid fears the relief would be short-lived.
After the wild gyrations witnessed last week, markets got off to a relatively stable start following Friday's news that the White House would exempt smartphones, semiconductors, computers and other devices from painful "reciprocal" levies.
The announcement provided a much-needed injection of optimism for investors who had been sent scurrying for the hills in the wake of the US president's tariff flip-flops and tit-for-tat measures by China.
All three main indexes on Wall Street finished solidly higher, helped by comments from a top Federal Reserve official that the central bank was prepared to step in to support financial markets.
Asia followed suit, with tech firms helping push Hong Kong more than two percent higher, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Jakarta and Manila were also well up.
London, Paris and Frankfurt also saw big gains in the morning, while US futures were all sharply higher.
