Investing.com – Wall Street continued its rally on Tuesday, as the U.S. and China made progress on trade talks.
The S&P 500 was up six points or 0.24% to 2,739.53 as of 9:40 AM ET (13:40 GMT) while the Dow composite increased over 23 points or 0.09% to 25,036.50 and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose 33 points or 0.46% to 7,427.81.
China said Tuesday it would cut import tariffs for automobiles and some car parts starting on July 1. Tariffs would be lowered to 15% from the current 20% to 25%, while tariffs on auto parts would be cut to 6%.
High tariffs on automobiles had been one of the complaints of the U.S. administration. The two countries are working towards a trade agreement, with the trade war between the U.S. and China currently “on hold,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.
Meanwhile the U.S. is nearly a deal to lift a ban on U.S. firms supplying telecoms firm ZTE (HK:0763).
Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers after the morning bell. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.56% while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) inched up 0.09% and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) gained 0.23%. Meanwhile Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) surged 6.43% while Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) increased 1.00%
Elsewhere retail firm Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) was down 2.30% despite reporting a higher than expected earnings, while JC Penney Company Inc Holding (NYSE:JCP) fell 3.80%. Sony Corp ADR (NYSE:SNE) was down 1.49% after news that it was buying out EMI Music Publishing.
In Europe stocks were up. Germany’s DAX rose 112 points or 0.86% while in France the CAC 40 increased seven points or 0.13% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 22 points or 0.29%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 15 points or 0.44% while Spain’s IBEX 35 surged 62 points or 0.62%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.19% to $1,293.30 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.10% to $72.42 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.03% to 93.43.