Wall Street rises as Chinese president eases trade worries

NEW YORK — US stocks climbed on Tuesday as investor concerns about rising trade tensions between the United States and China eased after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to cut import tariffs.

The technology sector, which would be particularly exposed to a negative impact from tense trade relations with China, provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500.

Mr. Xi said China will widen market access for foreign investors, a point of contention for US President Donald Trump. His comments buoyed global markets, which have been under pressure as China and the US threatened each other with billions of dollars in tariffs.

“With ( Xi’s comments), we got the signal for ‘risk on’ in trading today,” said Mariann Montagne, portfolio manager at Gradient Investments in Arden Hills, Minnesota. “That’s why we’ve seen tech and biotech performing very strongly today.”

Facebook shares added the biggest gains to the S& P 500, rising 4.5% after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg began his testimony before Congress and took questions from lawmakers. It was the biggest one- day percentage gain for the stock in nearly two years. Mr. Zuckerberg ’s testimony aimed to strike a conciliatory tone in an attempt to blunt possible regulatory fallout from the privacy scandal engulfing his social network.

The energy index had the highest percentage gain among the S&P’s 11 major sectors, adding 3.3% as oil broke above $70 a barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 428.9 points or 1.79% to 24,408; the S& P 500 gained 43.71 points or 1.67% to 2,656.87; and the Nasdaq Composite added 143.96 points, or 2.07%, to 7,094.30.

Only utilities and real estate, which are sensitive to interest rates, posted losses after US producer prices rose more than expected in March, indicating that inflation is strengthening, which could push interest rates up further.

US stocks will face a major test in coming weeks as first-quarter earnings pour in. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will kick off the earnings season on Friday.

Analysts expect quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.5% from a year ago, which would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 3.16 to 1; on Nasdaq, a 3.93- to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted six new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 32 new lows. —