Investing.com -- The S&P 500 closed higher Monday as investors digested the latest signs of potential further tariff reprieve ahead and mostly better-than-expected Wall Street bank earnings.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 312 points, or 0.8%, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.8%, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.6%.
Tariff relief for electronics, possible concessions for autos, but tariffs on pharma in spotlight
President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals in the not-too-distant future, though also signaled that there could be reprieve for automakers, suggested that he may temporarily exempt the auto industry from the 25% tariffs imposed last month.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Stellantis NV (BIT:STLAM) were sharply higher.
The update comes just days after offering a reprieve on levies that targeted electronics such as smartphones in semiconductors.
The White House announced that smartphones, computers and other electronics would be temporarily exempted from Trump’s punishing duties.
Trump did, however, say that this was only temporary, and suggested that he would unveil a tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week.
Still, the exclusion of electronics from Trump’s 145% tariffs on China granted some reprieve to tech majors with heavy exposure to China, specifically Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL) which was up 2% and 4%, respectively, though well off the highs of the day.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which is also China-sensitive, closed about 0.6% lower after giving up earlier gains.
The White House said the exclusions were aimed at giving companies more time to shift production to the United States.
In other news, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) gained more than 2% after the chipmaker agreed to sell its majority stake in Altera to private equity firm Silver Lake.
Fed Waller backs sooner rate cut if tariffs threaten recession
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Monday if the impact of tariffs threatens a deep economic slowdown, then he would back a sooner rate cut even if it is accompanied by a jump in inflation.
“If the slowdown is significant and even threatens a recession, then I would expect to favor cutting the FOMC’s policy rate sooner, and to a greater extent than I had previously thought,” Waller said in a speech in St. Louis.
Goldman continues flurry of upbeat Wall Street bank earnings
There are more corporate quarterly earnings due this week, with numbers from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Monday’s highlight.
The banking giant reported a 15% jump in net profit in the first quarter, helping its stock rise 2%, fueled by stock traders who capitalized on volatile markets to bring in record equities revenue.
The Wall Street bank joined rivals JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in reporting solid profits, even as investors have shifted their focus on to economic projections that are being clouded by concerns that tariffs could spur inflation and trigger a recession.
"While we are entering the second quarter with a markedly different operating environment than earlier this year, we remain confident in our ability to continue to support our clients," said CEO David Solomon, who noted the "great uncertainty" that hung over markets in the first quarter.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) are all set to report on Tuesday.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)