US stocks gained as President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom during a news conference at the White House.
The Dow was up 650 points, or 1.59%. The broader S&P 500 gained 1.56%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2%.
US stocks extended their gains as Trump struck a positive tone on upcoming trade talks with China. Stocks had initially wavered as Trump announced the US-UK trade deal, before surging higher as Trump said he expects a “good weekend” of trade talks with China.
Trump also urged investors to buy stocks. “You better go out and buy stock now,” the president said. “Let me tell you, this country will be like a rocket ship that goes straight up.”
Wall Street is eager for tariff rates to come down, and investors will scrutinize the details of trade deals.
Jay Hatfield, chief executive at Infrastructure Capital Advisors, said the US-UK trade deal looked “fairly thin” but was nonetheless a positive development.
The US dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against six major foreign currencies, gained 0.9%. The British pound weakened against the dollar after briefly gaining. And London’s FTSE 100 index closed lower by 0.3%.
Explaining the dip, Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told CNN that investors view the deal as more favorable to the US than the UK.
“10% tariffs are staying in place for great swathes of British exporters, but American companies selling into the UK will benefit from new cuts to duties,” she said.
Elsewhere, bitcoin crossed $100,000 for the first time in three months and gold prices slid 1.6%. The yellow metal is considered a haven during uncertainty.
