Investor Sentiment Ignited by Expectations for U.S.-China Trade Talks… NVIDIA Reclaims Top Market Cap [New York Stock Market Briefing]

Semiconductor Stocks Rise Together

The major indices of the New York Stock Exchange all climbed. This is interpreted as a reflection of optimism about trade negotiations between the United States and China. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to speak this week.

On the 3rd (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed at 42,519.64, up 214.16 points (0.51%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index rose 34.43 points (0.58%) to 5,970.37, while the NASDAQ index jumped 156.34 points (0.81%) to end at 19,398.96.

On the day, the White House announced that the leaders of the U.S. and China would soon be in communication. Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokesperson, said, "A conversation between the leaders will take place soon," and added, "The Trump administration is confident that it is monitoring whether China is complying with the Geneva Trade Agreement."

Following the White House's announcement, a positive wind swept through the stock market. Dan Ives, a technology analyst at Wedbush Securities, said, "Wall Street sees this as more than just a high-stakes poker game," adding, "The fact that Trump and Xi are scheduled to have a conversation this week shows optimism for U.S.-China relations."

He also singled out NVIDIA as the main beneficiary stock of the negotiation discussions. NVIDIA climbed 2.8% in a single day. NVIDIA’s market capitalization reached $3.4457 trillion, reclaiming the top spot from Microsoft (MS). The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX), consisting of semiconductor and AI-related stocks, also rose 2.72%. All 30 stocks in the index saw gains ahead of the U.S.-China leaders’ talks.

Broadcom also rose 3.27%. TSMC, AMD, and Applied Materials also climbed by around 2%. The so-called 'Magnificent 7' technology giants saw mixed results. Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet were weaker. Tesla saw only a slight gain.

The number of U.S. job openings announced on this day showed a stable trend. According to the April Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released by the United States Department of Labor, the seasonally adjusted number of job openings was 7.39 million. This marked an increase of 190,000 compared to the previous month’s 7.2 million. Market expectations had been for 7.1 million.

Key officials from the U.S. central bank (Fed) repeatedly expressed concerns about tariffs. Austan Goolsbee, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said Trump’s tariff policy could ultimately push the U.S. economy into a situation like stagflation (rising prices amid slowing growth), and the Fed does not have set guidelines for responding to such scenarios.

Lisa Cook, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, warned that although U.S. inflation has slowed recently, tariffs affecting the broader economy could reignite inflation. She said, "While I don’t express opinions about administration policies, we are analyzing the economic impact," adding that the Trump administration’s policies may increase the likelihood of higher inflation and a slowdown in the labor market.

According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch Tool, the probability of the federal funds rate remaining unchanged at the July FOMC stood at 74.3%, similar to the previous day. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.67 points (3.65%) to 17.69.

Jin Young-gi, Hankyung.com reporter young71@hankyung.com