US stocks bounce back as trade simmers, oil rallies

U.S. stocks rebounded from the worst selloff since early April as a rally in American crude overshadowed lingering concerns about the impact of heightened trade tensions. The dollar advanced.

The S&P 500 index rose back above its 50-day moving average, while technology shares hit hardest Monday bounced back to give the Nasdaq indexes advances. Energy producers led gains after oil popped above $70 a barrel following reports the U.S. is pressing allies to halt imports of Iranian crude. The dollar jumped versus major peers.

The spike in oil prices took some attention from the simmering trade tensions as investors await more clarity from the White House on its plans. President Donald Trump signaled he may take a less confrontational path toward curbing Chinese investments, backing down from earlier reports that the U.S. would bar Chinese money in certain technologies. As traders fret over the immediate outlook they also have doubts about the longer-term path for U.S. rates; the Treasury curve is the flattest in years, stoking fears about the prospect of a recession.

“Trade is weighing on the markets,” Carin Pai, director of equity management at Fiduciary Trust Company International in New York, said by phone. “But so far we do have the view that the fundamentals are strong enough to weather a lot of the negotiations, and we do think that right now a lot of it is negotiation.”

In Asia, Chinese equities entered a bear market on concern about the country’s ability to fight a trade war. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 3.5 percent. Brent crude rose above $76 a barrel after U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested a planned production hike isn’t enough to stop a price spike. The pound weakened as a new Bank of England member spoke about the risks of raising interest rates too fast. Emerging-market stocks dropped. Metals retreated, with zinc falling a ninth day and gold touching the lowest price this year.