In Tuesday’s trading activity, the Dow Jones gained 2.66%, adding 1,016.57 points. Bargain hunters, algos, and speculators potentially bet that Monday’s selling created an opportunity. Will the Dow’s gain hold up?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. trade war with China will have a de-escalation. This boosted the Nasdaq (QQQ) by 2.71%, the Russell 2000 (IWM) by 2.59%, and the S&P 500 (SPY) by 2.51%. However, Bessent’s comment did not involve any discussions with China. China already retaliated against the unsustainable U.S. tariffs. The country effectively ignored any further escalation after that.
On April 17, China said it would not pay any attention to the U.S. if the “tariff numbers game” continued. The CSI 300 and China’s yuan are steady, while Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCEHY), Baidu (BIDU), and other Chinese firms are steady. Markets are betting that China will navigate the trade tensions.
Investors accumulated financial services firms like Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V). They bought Netflix (NFLX) and GE Aerospace (GE). Selling pressure on Northrop Grumman (NOC) and RTX (RTX) likely peaked yesterday. This sets up a buying opportunity for investors this morning. The relative strength of Howmet Aerospace (HWM) and Textron (TXT) suggests that these stocks are also attractive holdings.