U.S. stocks climb on Trump’s trade talks comments, Tesla stock pops

Stocks rose on Monday amid President Donald Trump’s remarks on U.S. trade talks with China, with markets’ attention also firmly on this week’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 100 points, while the benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.6%.

Stocks looked to extend last week’s bounce to record highs ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting on Sept. 16 and 17, with sentiment elevated as investors factored in the high odds of an interest-rate cut by the U.S. central bank.

Trump’s comments on the U.S.-China trade talks came amid reports that top officials from the two countries had made progress toward a deal on tariff rates, which also buoyed sentiment. The U.S. president noted his outlook on the matter via Truth Social, also alluding to a potential deal around TikTok. 

Following the recent flow of weak labor-market data and hotter-than-expected inflation readings, Wall Street’s bet on a Fed rate cut has jumped to 96%. Investors have largely priced in a 25-basis-point cut. If the Fed lowers its policy rate as expected, analysts say it would add to the overall bullish sentiment across stocks and other risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

Stocks’ recent surge has created an environment in which tailwinds helped Bitcoin (BTC) rebound from below $110,000 to above $116,000 before paring gains during the weekend’s downturn as traders took profits.

Tesla stock surges

As stocks showed an upbeat mood, one of the key performers in premarket trading was Tesla. The electric-vehicle maker’s stock jumped more than 7% amid news that Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk had acquired $1 billion worth of the company’s shares.

Musk’s move came after the company revealed its CEO stood to benefit from $1 trillion worth of TSLA stock if the EV giant goes on to achieve a number of ambitious market milestones.