U.S. stocks opened higher to start the week on a positive note, with Wall Street’s reaction to the latest tariff news pushing tech stocks upward.
Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Dell (DELL) all rose Monday morning. On Saturday, President Donald Trump’s administration revealed the exclusion of consumer electronics, including smartphones, and computers from the announced tariffs.
With investors in mega cap tech companies celebrating the move, the shares of several firms in the segment rose. Other than AAPL, NVDA and DELL, there were also early gains for Tesla and Intel.
As investors braced for a busy week of earnings and potential developments in the tariff landscape, the S&P 500 opened with a 1.7% gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also opened higher, rising more than 460 points. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which initially dipped following the 145% and 125% tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China respectively, edged up 2.3% as markets opened on April 14.
Despite the upbeat open, investors took note of comments from U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who stated on Sunday that while electronics had been removed from the earlier tariff rates, they are still expected to fall under separate duties.
Wall Street’s positive open aligns with experts’ commentary at the end of last week, many noting the sell-off that followed Trump’s tariffs on China could have marked a bottom for equities.
Mark Newton, the managing director and global head of technical strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors, shared this sentiment in an interview with CNBC.
While the reprieve for major tech stocks has AAPL and other shares trading higher, last week’s performance for gold has had a slight slowdown. The precious metal remained near its all-time highs but was down nearly 1%.
The safe-haven assets will continue to attract investors amid market turbulence, but with tech stocks edging higher, its likely risk assets like Bitcoin (BTC) will mirror trajectory. Analysts at Bitfinex say BTC could outpace stocks amid market recovery.
However, the market is aware of Trump’s comments via Truth Social that the exclusion for tech stocks isn’t permanent.
Alongside tariff-related developments, attention will also turn to earnings this week. After strong reports from several major banks last week, upcoming results from Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), and Citi (C) will be closely watched.
