U.S. markets had a strong open Monday morning on President Trump's announcement that U.S. and Chinese officials are willing to continue talks in an effort to de-escalate mounting trade tensions.
Speaking from the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, Trump said that Chinese negotiators had called U.S. officials and requested a new round of talks. "We'll be getting back to the table. And I think they want to do something," he said. "This is a very positive development for the world."
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang, however, said at a press conference Monday that he was not aware of any calls, but that the trade feud should be solved "through dialogue and consultation."
Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said at an economics conference in Chongqing that China favored "calm negotiations" to resolve trade tension. "We resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war, which is not beneficial for the U.S. or China. It is also not beneficial to the world," Liu said, according to multiple reports citing government transcripts.
By midday, the Dow was up more than 250 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up more than one percent. Yet the news came too late for Asian markets, which had plummeted by close Monday local time.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite Index ended the day down 1.91 percent and 1.17 percent respectively. The Nikkei in Tokyo closed down 2.17 percent and South Korea's Kospi Index fell 1.6 percent.
On Monday, Trump also repeatedly lauded Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "great leader" and a "brilliant man" — a far cry from the "enemy" characterization that Trump gave Xi last week.
The enduring trade dispute between the U.S. and China, which has both ebbed and surged in recent months, significantly escalated last week. China announced on Friday that it would hit $75 billion worth of U.S. goods with new retaliatory tariffs and proceed with a steep tariff levied on U.S. vehicles and car parts.
In response, Trump announced that the U.S. would hike its 25 percent tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports to 30 percent, and increase the forthcoming 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of goods to 15 percent. Friday's culmination sent U.S. stocks into a nosedive and led to an outcry from industry against the escalation.
Trump added he was confident that Liu's remarks on calm negotiations were sincere and were not a bid to quell market woes. "I think they want to make a deal. I think they should make a deal, and I think if they don't make a deal it will be very bad for China," he said during a press conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
At a separate event, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Liu's remarks were "very significant statements" and that the U.S. was communicating with the vice premier, who is China's chief negotiator, through intermediaries.
China, nonetheless, urged the U.S. on Monday not to "miscalculate the situation" and to cease its "erroneous ways."
"China firmly opposes and rejects such stark trade bullying and maximum pressuring tactics," Shuang said. "I would like to remind the U.S. once again that threats and intimidation will never work on China."
In response to a question on the trade uncertainty fueling market volatility, Trump said "Sorry, it's the way I negotiate ... and it has done very well for me over the years."
Cloud data management company Informatica made its market debut on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol INFA. Shares ending the day even after opening at $27.55. with shares priced at $29 apiece.
This is the second time the company has gone public after being founded back in 1993. Informatica then went private in a $5 billion deal in 2015. Now, the company is reentering public markets as a subscription business with a push to the cloud. Cheddar News welcomes CEO of Informatica, Amit Walia, to discuss.
If you plan on hosting family and friends this holiday season, you may want to start stocking up on gifts right now. That's because major retailers don't anticipate the national supply chain crisis to end anytime soon. President Biden even says he's considering deploying the National Guard to ease the supply chain crisis. Melissa Gonzalez, CEO and founder of The Lionesque Group, joins Cheddar News to breakdown what consumers should expect.
It's no doubt that the pandemic has been tough on the job market. According to the Labor Department, a record four million people quit their jobs in April. Now, a new survey from Oracle is touching on mental health and how employees are demanding more from their work lives. Juergen Lindner, SVP of global software for SaaS at Oracle, joins Cheddar Wellness to talk about the findings.
The new 2023 C8 Corvette Z06 is finally here. GM's Chevrolet is holding a livestream feature film to debut the car. A panel discussion will also take place to break down everything you need to know about the vehicle. Tadge Juechter, Corvette's executive chief engineer, joins Cheddar News to talk about the new model.
Anushka Salinas, president and COO of Rent the Runway, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about bringing the fashion rental company to the public market after debuting on Nasdaq. Salinas also talks about the future outlook for the company after the pandemic shifted the everyday lives of working women. "As of the end of September, we're at 97 percent of our ending 2019 subscriber count, which, I think, highlights that despite the pandemic, despite delta variant still kind of lingering around, limited marketing of our business, and women not fully being back in the office, we've already brought Rent the Runway back to pre-pandemic levels," she said.
The Roots' Questlove joined Cheddar's 'Between Bells' to talk about partnering with The Balvenie Scotch whisky on a new web series called 'Quest for Craft,' where he interviews big-name guests about their creative processes. He noted that he hopes the series can act as a guide for recent college grads who might be confused about their personal path to take toward success.
GM CFO Paul Jacobson joined Cheddar to talk about the automaker's Q3 earnings beat. Despite COVID concerns at some of its plants overseas as well as the ongoing global chip shortage, Jacobson said he expects the average sale price of GM's vehicles — around $50,000 — to remain the same going into 2022, even as inventory remains low. He also talked about plans to open more battery plants in coordination with the efforts to transform GM's fleet fully into electric vehicles.
Kevin Cohee, chairman and CEO of OneUnited Bank, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about the launch of its Greenwood debit card keeping alive the legacy of Tulsa, Oklahoma's historic Black Wall Street. Cohee also discussed the importance of shopping with Black businesses and investing in Black-led and owned financial institutions. "Our leaders have understood, since the end of slavery, the importance of us being organized in order to be effective in a capitalist society," he said.
Alex Wilhelm, a senior editor at TechCrunch, joined Cheddar to talk about the ups and downs of fashion rental company Rent the Runway as it went public on the Nasdaq. "In the case of Rent the Runway, the economics of its core business are a little bit suspect, I think, and the company's high debt load puts a pretty serious drag on its operations," he said. "And so when you consider it's going to spend a lot of its IPO paying down debt, you wonder what's going to be left over to fund future growth."
