Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market opened sharply higher. New developments in the trade war have fueled hopes of further de-escalation. The U.S. will drop tariffs on China from 145% to 30% and China will drop tariffs on U.S. from 125% to 10% for a 90-day period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+2.4%) is more than 1,000 points higher than Friday's close. The S&P 500 shows a 2.6% gain and the Nasdaq Composite is 3.6% higher. 

Strong gains are helped by short-covering activity and a fear of missing out on further gains. 

The risk-on bias has defensive-oriented names lagging the broader equity market. The consumer staples (-0.4%) and utilities (-0.4%) sectors are in the red while the consumer discretionary (+5.3%), technology (+3.6%), and energy (+3.4%) sectors lead the pack.