Trade talk brings little worry as stocks climb

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to trade higher on light volume Monday as investors looked past potentially rising global trade tensions to focus on tech strength. The dollar climbed, roiling emerging markets, while oil drifted lower as President Donald Trump called for Saudi Arabia to increase petroleum production in order to reduce prices.

The S&P 500 Index rose as information technology companies and utilities offset weakness in energy, while the Nasdaq indexes also climbed. With U.S. trading desks thinly staffed ahead of the July 4 holiday, volume in S&P 500 stocks was about 17 percent below average and activity in Nasdaq shares was 22 percent less than normal.

Treasuries fell slightly. Commodities had their biggest tumble since 2016, led by weakness in metals, as silver dropped almost 2 percent and gold declined 1 percent.

“You throw in all the tariffs, which tariffs are impossible to model, literally, and that’s why you’re just going to see a back and forth I think for the remainder of the year,” Jason Barsema, president and co-founder of Halo Investing, said by phone. “This trade war, and it is a war, I think we’ve gotten ourselves into a little bit of a pickle.”

Emerging-market stocks retreated and their currencies fell as well. Mexico’s peso dipped following the country’s presidential elections. In China, weakerthan-expected manufacturing data for June added to concern that the country’s growth is softening. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank to its lowest level since in 10 months. The yuan softened, resuming its sharpest drop since China’s August 2015 devaluation.

Trade-war jitters, political risk in Europe and divergence in monetary policy across the globe remain some of the key issues worrying investors. Britain’s pound declined in yet another big week for Brexit. And the euro came under pressure as tensions deepened in the German coalition.