Asia stocks: China surges on stimulus hopes, others lag on fresh tariff fears
Investing.com- S&P 500 rallied Monday, underpinned by bets of an end to Israel-Iran conflict sooner rather than later despite conflicting reports on whether Iran is seeking a ceasefire with Israel.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317 points, or 0.8%, the S&P 500 gained 1%, and the NASDAQ Composite 1.4%.
Iran denies reports of seeking ceasefire; oil prices retreat
Iran denied reports that it has reached out to intermediaries in Middle East to press President Donald Trump to broker a ceasefire.
Earlier in the day, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, citing unnamed sources, had reported that Iran was seeking to end hostilities with Israel.
Tehran asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to call on Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire, Reuters reported.
The reports stoked hopes for an end to Iran-Israeli conflict, pushing oil prices lower and triggering risk-on sentiment.
Fed meeting awaited for more rate cues
The Federal Reserve is set to kick off a two-day meeting from Tuesday, and is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, around 4.5%, at the end of the meeting on Wednesday.
But focus will be largely on whether the central bank will signal future rate cuts, especially in the face of softer U.S. inflation and signs of a cooling economy.
The central bank has so far largely maintained its stance that interest rates will remain unchanged in the near-term. But soft inflation data in recent months, coupled with signs of a cooling labor market and dwindling economic growth spurred bets that the Fed could change its tone in the coming months.
The Fed is also facing increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.
The central bank had cut rates by a total of 1% in 2024, but forecast a much slower pace of cuts in 2025 due to uncertainty over inflation and the economy. A bulk of this uncertainty stemmed from Trump’s trade tariffs and their potential impact.
Investors will also monitor manufacturing survey data due later Monday.
G7 summit in focus
The leaders from the Group of Seven nations are meeting in Canada this week, in what could be a fraught occasion given U.S. President Donald Trump have levied punishing tariffs on the imports from many of his allies. .
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has stressed that the summit will push for peace and security, although he has suggested that Ottawa could hit back at the U.S. if the White House does not lift its tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Roku gains on Amazon tie-up
In corporate news, Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) stock rose strongly after the company announced an exclusive partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Ads, creating what the firms describe as the “largest authenticated Connected TV (CTV) footprint in the U.S.
United States Steel (NYSE:X) stock surged after U.S. President Donald Trump approved the partnership between the steelmaker and Japan’s Nippon Steel, while Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) slumped after the company disclosed a second case of patient death due to acute liver failure after receiving its gene therapy for a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article