U.S. stocks swung higher on Monday, coming off a turbulent period following concerns that President Donald Trump’s threat to impose hefty tariffs of steel and aluminum would spark a global trade war.
The Dow was up 173 points in late-morning trading on Monday, after slumping 140 points at open, while all the 11 S&P sectors were higher.
“There has been a lot of conflicting information in terms of (administration’s) plans and it’s leading to some back and forth movement in the market,” said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“Nobody wants to take a big position to sell, only to find the administration change its mind.”
Trump on Monday appeared to suggest that Canada and Mexico could win exemptions to the planned sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum if the two countries sign a new NAFTA trade deal and take other steps.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan urged the Trump administration not to finalize the new tariffs, citing risks to the economy.
“Generally, this is headline shock. This will play out as long as it doesn’t start to escalate and investors will start to focus back on the strengthening global economy,” said Arian Vojdani, investment strategist at MV Financial in Bethesda, Maryland.
At 11:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 0.33 percent, at 24,618.74.
The S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.40 percent to 2,702.12 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 0.3 percent to 7,279.45.
Shares of Clearside Biomedical (CLSD.O) jumped 43 percent after the drug developer’s eye drug met the main goal in a late-stage study, while Dermira (DERM.O) plunged 63 percent after the company abandoned its acne drug.
Europe’s second-biggest insurer XL Group Ltd (XL.N) rose 30 percent after being acquired by France’s AXA (AXAF.PA) for $15.3 billion.
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