Investing.com – Wall Street jumped on Monday, with the S&P 500 reaching an all-time high after Washington and Beijing came closer to finalizing an interim trade agreement that would at least put their 15-month trade war on hold.
The Dow was up 169 points or 0.6% by 9:37 AM ET (13:37 GMT), while the S&P 500 rose 18 points or 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite gained 59 points or 0.7%.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Friday that officials were “close to finalizing some sections of the agreement,” while China’s Ministry of Commerce technical details were “basically completed.” The two sides are trying to get a deal before mid-November when Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile.
Investors were also uplifted by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates for the third time this year at its next policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday. According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, there's a 93% chance of a 25 basis point cut in the Fed funds rate.
As earnings season rolled on, AT&T (NYSE:T) rose 3.2% after its profit came in fractionally higher than expected and it announced a 3-year action plan, backed by activist investor Elliot Management. Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) surged 11% after the music streaming company's earnings came in a little better than expected. In a separate statement, it said chief financial officer Barry McCarthy is to retire in January.
Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) skyrocketed 28.8% after LVMH made an unsolicited offer of $120 per share for the luxury jewelry retailer, valuing it at about $14.5 billion.
Elsewhere, HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) was down 3.8% after the bank cut its 2020 profitability target, becoming the latest of a number of European banks to accept the need for some major restructuring.
In commodities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% to 97.545 and gold futures slipped 0.5% to $1,498.45 a troy ounce. Crude oil futures were up 0.4% to $56.86 a barrel.