US stocks soar as White House plays down North Korea threat
GETTY Efforts to diffuse the situation with Kim Jong Un appears to have placated investors
The Dow Jones industrial average soared by almost 140 points, and the S&P 500 was up 19.63 points, or 0.80 percent, at 2,460.95. All the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with S&P financial's 1.12 percent rise leading the gainers.with S&P financial's 1.12 per cent rise leading the gainers. The Nasdaq Composite was up 61.57 points, or 0.98 percent, at 6,318.12. Last week global stocks lost nearly $1trillion after US President Donald Trump warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, leading to a war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.
Pyongyang has promised to fire missiles towards the US island territory of Guam in response, raising fears that a full-blown conflict between the two nations is imminent. But US officials, including National Security Adviser HR McMaster and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, have since played down the risk. Meanwhile South Korea's president said resolving Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions must be done peacefully. Mr Trump himself has been distracted from the feud after he drew criticism for failing to condemn white supremacists and Neo-Nazis at a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a 32-woman was killed. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities told Reuters: "Feels as though the North Korean tension seems to be abating a bit, with commentary coming out of China and the United States.
GETTY Donald Trump's inflammatory words towards North Korea had rocked Wall Street
"But the situation seems to have de-escalated in the near term. "After the one and a half percent self-off last week, we got a bit of a investor attitude to buy the dip." Oil prices fell as a slowdown in Chinese refining raised concerns about demand in the world's second-biggest consumer, while an increase in U.S. drilling capacity could deepen a global supply glut. Among stocks, Tesla rose 2.35 percent after two brokerages raised their price targets on the stock, citing the potential success of the company's Model 3 sedan.
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