U.S. and China Market Rally

The U.S. Trade Representative Office sparked a rally in U.S. markets Tuesday, announcing that they would delay new tariffs on certain Chinese products until December 15. The tariffs had been scheduled to go into effect on September 1, so the delay has caused a sigh of relief among investors regarding the 2019 holiday shopping season.

On the list of delayed tariffs were cellphones, laptops and video game consoles, as well as certain clothing products, shoes and toys.

Shares of Apple soared 4.6% higher on the news, while chipmakers Micron and Nvidia were 5.1% and 3.2% higher respectively. Shares of retailer Best Buy were up as much as 8% intraday on the news.

Other retailers also surged, with Nike adding 1.8%, while Nordstrom’s advanced 2.4%, Kohls jumped 2.8%, and even beleaguered Macy’s rallied 1.7% higher.

Meanwhile the inclusion of certain toys on the list of delayed tariffs sent shares of Hasbro and Mattel higher by 3.4% and 4.6%respectively.

There were other items on the list which included fireworks, sports equipment, baby products, fireworks, numerous chemicals and food and kitchen items.

President Trump said Tuesday that the decision to delay tariffs was made to lower the impact of tariffs on holiday shopping. He also said the delay will “help a lot of people.”

Separately the Commerce Ministry in China released an announcement that Vice-Premier Liu He had spoken with both the U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer, and that the group had agreed to speak again in two weeks, which gave investors more optimism over trade talks.