Wall Street skyrockets after USTR announces delay to additional tariffs on China

USTR says additional tariffs on some Chinese products will be delayed to December 15.
Trade-sensitive technology shares post strong gains in early trade.
Defensive stocks turn south amid strong risk appetite.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

After starting the day deep in the negative territory, Wall Street's main indexes rose sharply on the back of renewed trade optimism. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both up 1.6% on the day while the Nasdaq Composite was adding 2.5%.

According to an official statement published by the Office of the US Trade Representative Lighthizer, the Trump administration decided to delay the additional 10% tariffs on certain Chinese products including a variety of consumer electronics and allowed improved the market sentiment.

The trade-sensitive Technology Index rose sharply on these headlines and was last up 2.3% on the day to lead the rally ahead of Communication Services and Industrial indexes, which were both adding around 1.7%. On the other hand, the defensive Real Estate and Utilities indexes post modest losses to reflect the risk-on atmosphere. In the meantime, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is down nearly 11% on the day.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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