U.S. stocks surge on China trade optimism; corporate earnings in focus

Investing.com-- U.S. stocks rose Monday, boosted by hopes for more trade talks with China at the start of a week that includes a slew of big-name earnings reports as well as important inflation data. 

At 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 210 points, or 0.5%, the S&P 500 index rose 40 points, or 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite climbed 185 points, or 0.8%.  

Sentiment lifted by easing U.S.-China tensions 

Sentiment received a boost after President Donald Trump suggested that his proposed triple-digit tariffs on China were not sustainable, raising hopes that trade tensions between the two largest economies in the world could be smoothed over.

Trump also confirmed that a meeting later this month with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea will go ahead, adding in a television interview that the U.S. is "going to be fine with China."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said he expects to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this week in a bid to prevent an escalation of the levies. Chinese state news sources noted that He and Bessent held "constructive discussions" and had agreed to conduct fresh trade discussions as soon as possible.

Heightened U.S.-China tensions had battered Wall Street earlier in October, with stock benchmarks falling from record highs after Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs against China, drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing. 

Data released earlier Monday showed that China’s economy grew slightly more than expected in the third quarter of 2025, but at its slowest pace in a year amid persistent headwinds from rampant disinflation and U.S. trade tensions.

Tesla, Netflix to headline Q3 earnings 

Apart from the trade talks, traders will be keeping tabs this week on corporate earnings from a host of major Wall Street companies, with streaming giant Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) due on Tuesday and electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on Wednesday. 

Others, including GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris (NYSE:PM), Rtx Corp (NYSE:RTX), General Motors (NYSE:GM), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) will report earnings during the week.

The focus will be squarely on whether these corporates have continued to generate profits amid disruptions from trade tariffs and a cooling labor market. Markets are seeking more cues on the U.S. economy as an ongoing government shutdown has delayed the release of several key economic readings. 

That said, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to publish the delayed September consumer price index on Friday, which will be studied carefully for signs of underlying inflationary pressures.

Major Wall Street banks reported positive third-quarter earnings last week, offering markets some support, while the 20-day U.S. federal government shutdown is expected to conclude this week, according to White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett.

Elsewhere, Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 17 series has outperformed its predecessor by 14% during the first 10 days of availability in the United States and China, according to data released Monday by Counterpoint Research.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will also be in the spotlight after an outage to the retail giant’s Web Services, the backbone of many sites.

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) announced its new Adobe AI Foundry product, a service designed to help companies develop bespoke generative AI models built on their own intellectual property. 

Beer maker Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) said it would cut about 400 jobs across its Americas business by the end of December as part of a corporate restructuring plan.

Crude prices slip lower 

Oil prices fell Monday, adding to recent losses as the tepid Chinese economic data added to persistent concerns over sluggish demand and a looming supply glut. 

Brent futures dropped 1.6% to $60.33 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.6% to $56.26 a barrel.

Both benchmarks declined more than 2% last week, marking their third consecutive weekly decline, partly due to the International Energy Agency’s outlook for a growing supply glut in 2026.

Ambar Warrick contributed to this article