Major US stock indexes rose significantly after the US presidential administration announced that it would postpone the introduction of 10 percent tariffs on some Chinese products until December 15, including laptops, mobile phones, clothes and game consoles.

The news of Washington’s move, which marks a retreat from a tough stance in trade negotiations with Beijing, helped outweigh concerns about geopolitical and economic challenges.

Apple's 4.3% jump in stocks (AAPL), which manufactures its iPhone and MacBook in China, along with chip makers ’shares pushed the tech sector up 1.7%. Semiconductor maker Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) is up nearly 3%.

Investors also studied the Labor Department report, which showed that US consumer prices rose in July. According to the report, the consumer price index rose 0.3%, as predicted, after rising 0.1% in May and June. In the 12 months to July, the consumer price index rose 1.8% after rising 1.6% in June. Excluding food and energy prices, basic consumer prices also rose 0.3% for the second month in a row, while economists forecast 0.2% growth. The so-called basic consumer price index was increased due to higher prices for clothes, airline tickets, medical equipment and household items. In the 12 months to July, the base consumer price index rose 2.2% after rising 2.1% in June.

Almost all DOW components completed trading in positive territory (29 out of 30). The biggest gainers were Apple Inc. (AAPL, + 4.30%). Only Pfizer Inc. shares down (PFE, -0.57%).

All S&P sectors recorded an increase. The largest growth was shown by the technology sector (+ 1.7%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 26,279.91 +382.20 +1.48%

S&P 500 2,926.15 +43.06 +1.49%

Nasdaq 100 8,016.36 +152.95 +1.95%

• Some products are being removed from China tariff list based on health, safety, national security and other factors; will not face additional tariffs of 10%

U.S. stock-index futures fell on Tuesday, as geopolitical angst and economic uncertainty continued to weigh on market sentiment.

Global Stocks:

Jane Foley, the senior FX strategist at Rabobank, notes that the news that the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) sight deposits jumped the most in two years last week provided a strong signal to the market that the bank had intervened in the FX market to offset CHF gains.

• “This is not a huge surprise since the SNB makes it very clear that its maintains FX intervention (and the threat of it) as a policy tool. So far, August has been defined by a surge in demand for safe-haven assets.”
• “The CHF has been gaining ground vs. the EUR since late April. This may partly be attributable to a pick-up in expectations about the prospects of further forthcoming policy easing by the ECB.”
• “In response to the general increase in demand for safe-haven assets, last week net positions in the JPY climbed into positive territory for the first time since late 2016. By contrast, not only did net speculators’ CHF positions remain in negative territory, but net shorts increased last week.”
• “Given the weight of bad news and the accommodative policy bias of the ECB, the SNB could struggle to weaken the value of the CHF in the coming months. CPI inflation in Switzerland remains extremely low, at 0.3% y/y in July. Clearly, the risk of further currency appreciation would be problematic to the central bank given its mandate “to ensure price stability, while taking account of economic developments”.  As a consequence, speculation is building that the SNB may cut its policy rate at its September policy meeting, despite this already being at -0.75%.”
• “There is little doubt that the SNB will continue to hammer a bearish drum going forward. That said, as long as demand for safe-haven remains heightened, the SNB will be in fire-fighting mode. The optimal backdrop for an effective policy pass-through for the SNB would be strong and stable growth in the Eurozone and a return to healthy levels of risk appetite. In the absence of this, the outlook for the CHF will be dominated by safe-haven demand. We see scope for the CHF to lose a little ground vs the JPY in the coming months, but expect EUR/CHF to creep down towards 1.07 on a 3- to 6-month view.”

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Advanced Micro (AMD) initiated with Hold at Loop Capital

Intel (INTC) initiated with Hold at Loop Capital

McDonald's Corp (MCD) initiated with Buy at MKM Partners

Barrick (GOLD) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus

JD.com (JD) reported Q2 FY 2019 earnings of RMB 2.30 per share (versus RMB 0.33 in Q2 FY 2018), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of RMB 0.54.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to RMB 150.281 bln (+22.9% y/y), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of RMB 147.444 bln.

The company also issued in-line guidance for Q3 FY 2019, projecting revenues of RMB 126-130 bln versus analysts’ consensus estimate of RMB 126.13 bln.

JD rose to $28.30 (+4.20%) in pre-market trading.