Global stock markets were seen recovering on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump issued tariff exemptions on smartphones, computers and some other electronics imported largely from China, providing relief to tech firms like Apple.
The action also excludes electronics from Trump’s 10 percent baseline tariffs on goods from most countries other than China, easing import costs for semiconductors.
China said it was evaluating the impact of the exclusions. In a statement on Sunday, the Chinese commerce ministry called the move a “small step by the U.S. to correct its wrong practice of unilateral ‘reciprocal tariffs.”
U.S. dollar dips, stocks rise
Following the announcement, the U.S. stock market saw the S&P 500 rise 1.81 percent to 5,363.36 and the Nasdaq gain 2.06 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 1.56 percent.
The dollar drifted lower on Monday as investor confidence in the currency remained cautious following several tariff announcements. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.49 percent to 99.61, reversing earlier gains and remaining near a 10-year low against the Swiss franc at 0.8188. Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.22 percent to 143.24.
Trump on Sunday said he would announce tariffs on imported semiconductors over the next week, adding that there would be flexibility towards some companies in the sector.
Meanwhile, the euro steadied at $1.1359, hovering near Friday’s three-year high.
Asian tech shares surge
In the Asian stock market, Foxconn, Apple’s largest iPhone assembler, rose 2.97 percent. Quanta closed 5.8 percent higher, and Inventec rose 4.1 percent. China’s Goertek gained 1 percent while South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the second largest smartphone vendor in the U.S. market, rose 1.81 percent
Trump recently said on social media that the electronics products excluded from his reciprocal tariffs “are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket,” and would be reviewed along with semiconductors in a national security trade investigation into the sector.
Japan’s Nikkei was up 1.56 percent, while South Korea’s SE KOPSI Index rose 0.87 percent. The broader Topix index gained 1.24 percent to 2,497.60. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.02 percent to 21,336.44.
Japan is aiming for trade negotiations with the United States that will likely discuss the currency policy. Japanese Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa said on Monday that foreign exchange issues would be dealt with between Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In Europe’s stock market, the EUROSTOXX 50 was down 0.66 percent to 4,787.23, while the FTSE 100 Index gained 0.64 percent to 7,964.18.
Read: Oil prices drop to $64.47 as U.S.-China trade war affects global growth outlook
U.S. tech shares bounce back
U.S. tech stocks also witnessed a bounce back. Nvidia shares rose 3.12 percent, Apple gained 4.06 percent to $198.15, and Microsoft rose 1.86 percent to $388.45.
In addition, Alphabet was up 2.59 percent, Tesla was down a marginal 0.036 percent, Meta was down 0.50 percent and Amazon gained 2.01 percent to $184.87.
In commodities, gold prices declined 0.11 percent to $3,234.8 as of 6:26 GMT. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures were down 29 cents, or 0.45 percent, at $64.47 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $61.23 a barrel, down 27 cents, or 0.44 percent.
