Dow swings up as trade fears ease

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday surged nearly 500 points, or about 2 percent, after Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to offer an olive branch to ease trade tensions with the U.S., The Associated Press reports.

Xi indicated Beijing would "significantly" lower auto tariffs and enforce intellectual property rights of foreign corporations, with Ford rising around 2.3 percent and Apple and Microsoft 1.7 percent each in response. Fears of a trade war between China and the U.S. have caused dramatic plunges in the Dow after President Trump announced steep tariffs on China.

"It was a short-term surprise to the risk markets that Xi put out a positive comment saying he's open to trade negotiations and relaxing trade restrictions," said Washington Crossing Advisors' Chad Morganlander, as reported by MarketWatch. "That bodes well for the short run, but these types of negotiations sometimes start with open arms and then end with massive amounts of debate and finger pointing.

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