Stock Market Rebounds Monday On News China Wants To Resolve Trade War

Wall Street took a rebound Monday on news China wanted to arrange a new round of talks to end the trade war that ignited over a year ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 270 points, or 1.1% higher on the news. All 30 Dow stocks finished Monday’s trading on the upside. The S&P 500 wound down its day with a 1.1% improvement while the NASDAQ Composite closed up 1.3% .

All three stock indices ended Friday in the red, marking their fourth down-week in a row. Monday's sharp turnaround was all the more surprising given predictions of a continuation of the rout Monday. Analysts said the grim picture apparently changed just on news of Trump's phone call.

“China called last night our top trade people and said ‘Let’s get back to the table’, so we’ll be getting back to the table, and I think they want to do something,” Trump revealed.

China, however, didn’t confirm this phone call ever took place. This led to some analysts accusing Trump of market manipulation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he hadn’t heard a phone call between Trump and anyone in China had taken place, as Trump claimed. China’s Commerce Ministry, which normally releases statements on phone calls related to trade, made no mention of Trump’s phone call claim.

Despite this, weary investors led all three main indices to record heartening gains when they were preparing for the worst following the pummeling they took on Friday.

There was also good news from China to add to the mix.

Chinese vice premier Liu He, China’s chief trade talks negotiator, on Monday said China remains willing to resolve the trade war, but through “calm” negotiations. He also resolutely opposed Trump’s escalation of the trade war in response to the tariffs China imposed on Friday.

Liu again pointed out nobody benefits from a trade war.

“We are willing to resolve the issue through consultations and cooperation in a calm attitude and resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war,” said Liu.

“We believe that the escalation of the trade war is not beneficial for China, the United States, nor to the interests of the people of the world.”

He also said the escalation of the trade war is bad for all parties and "the interest of the people in the world."

On Monday, Trump said the U.S. will only make a trade deal with China if it is "fair" and "good,” reversing a previous statement he made at the G-7 which asserted, "I think we're going to make a deal."