Stocks Rise as Traders Size Up Tariffs
(AP) -- U.S. stocks rose in early trading Tuesday as investors weighed the White House's decision to impose tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods beginning next week. Gains in technology, energy and consumer-focused companies outweighed losses in utilities and elsewhere in the market. Oil prices rose.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 8 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,897 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 26,094. The Nasdaq composite gained 54 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,949. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies added 6 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,709.
TRADE SHOWDOWN: The Trump administration announced late Monday that it will impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods starting next Monday, potentially raising prices on goods ranging from handbags to bicycle tires. The tariffs will start at 10 percent and then climb to 25 percent on Jan. 1.
China's Commerce Ministry said it would take "counter-measures" but gave no details. Beijing has warned that it would hit an additional $60 billion in American goods if Trump ordered more tariffs. If China does retaliate, Trump has threatened to add another $267 billion in Chinese imports to the target list. That would raise the total to $517 billion, covering nearly everything China sells in the United States.
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TECH REBOUND: Technology stocks rebounded after leading a market sell-off a day earlier. Micron Technology rose 2.3 percent to $44.60. Apple, which received an exemption to the new tariffs on goods imported from China, gained 1.4 percent to $220.86.
DISAPPOINTING QUARTER: Oracle slid 1 percent to $48.79 after the business software company said its latest quarterly sales fell short of analyst estimates.
BOTCHED DELIVERY: FedEx dropped 4.9 percent to $242.93 after the package delivery giant reported quarterly earnings that fell short of Wall Street's forecasts.
ENERGY: Oil prices climbed ahead of an upcoming OPEC meeting where members will weigh how to address the loss of supply from Iran, which faces U.S. sanctions. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.1 percent to $70.39 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 2.1 percent to $79.66 a barrel in London.
The pickup in oil prices helped send energy stocks higher. Hess climbed 3.6 percent to $69.10.
BOND YIELDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.03 percent from 3 percent late Monday.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 112.24 yen from 111.18 yen on Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1696 from $1.1686.
MARKETS OVERESEAS: In Europe, the DAX in Germany rose 0.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 added 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.4 percent, while the Kospi in South Korea added 0.3 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.6 percent.
(BE)