Major stock market indexes rose on Thursday as the dollar eased against other currencies in light of the Trump administration signaling a willingness to de-escalate its trade war with China.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that high tariffs on China are not sustainable, while U.S. President Donald Trump signaled his openness to easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Adding to the upbeat market sentiment, Trump backed off from threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, renewing confidence in U.S assets.
The dollar index declined 0.17 percent to 99.67, as of 6:13 GMT.
Wall Street gains on earnings news
Trump’s tariff policy has recently triggered a wave of volatility in stock markets globally as recession fears mounted and criticism of Powell added to investor concerns about U.S. assets.
Some earnings news in the U.S. supported the market. Boeing shares rose 6.05 percent to $172.37 after the company reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.07 percent to 39,606.57, the S&P 500 index rose 1.67 percent to 5,375.86, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.5 percent to 16,708.05.
Tesla stocks gained 5.37 percent despite the company reporting a 71 percent decline in net income. Elon Musk said on a call with analysts that he would significantly reduce his involvement in work at the Department of Government Efficiency from next month to focus more on his many companies.
Meanwhile, Apple gained 2.43 percent to $204.6, and Microsoft rose 2.06 percent to $374.39. Meta gained 4 percent, Amazon rose 4.28 percent, and Alphabet was up 2.48 percent.
Asian market mixed
In the Asian stock market, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.35 percent to 34,989.67, while South Korea’s KOSPI Index fell 0.24 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.75 percent.
The Taiwan Weighted Index was down 0.82 percent while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.042 percent. The broader Topix index rose 0.16 percent to 2,588.58. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.18 percent to 21,811.80.
Read: Dubai gold prices climb AED3.5, global rates rebound despite U.S.-China trade deal optimism
European shares rise
European stocks closed Wednesday’s session on a buoyant note as Trump softened his stance towards the Fed chairman and signaled China tariffs will come down.
The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 1.78 percent, after hitting a three-week high. The German DAX rallied 3.14 percent, France’s CAC 40 surged 2.13 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.90 percent to 8,403.18.
In commodities, spot gold was up 1.04 percent to $3,319.49 while U.S. gold futures gained 1.15 percent to $3,331.85. Brent crude futures rose 0.17 percent to $66.23 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.22 percent to $62.41 a barrel.
