Nov. 28 (UPI) — Stocks rose for the second consecutive day on Tuesday after President Donald Trump‘s top economic adviser said the United States and China were back discussing a deal to end the ongoing trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 108.44 points, or 0.44 percent, to 24,748.73, while the S&P 500 rose 0.28 percent and the Nasdaq composite increased 0.012 percent. The modest gains came a day after all three indexes were up nearly 2 percent on Monday, following a rough October and November.
Tuesday’s stock increases came after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the U.S. resumed talks with the Chinese government after talks had stalled.
“We’re having now a lot of communication with the Chinese government at all levels,” Kudlow said. “We were at a total standstill. Nothing was going on.”
Kudlow added that Trump sees a “good possibility” the U.S. and China can reach a trade deal when he and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet at the G20 summit in Argentina on Friday and Saturday.
He also said there was a possibility of additional tariffs if discussions don’t go well, but that would be a “presidential decision” made after the talks, adding he believes the U.S. is in “better shape to weather this than the Chinese are.”
“President Xi has the opportunity to change the tone and the substance of these talks. President Trump has indicated that he is open,” Kudlow said.
Also Tuesday, General Motors stock was down 2.55 percent after Trump threatened to cut subsidies to the companies, saying he was “very disappointed” with CEO Mary Barra because the company closed plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland.
“Nothing being closed in Mexico and China. The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get! We are now looking at cutting all GM subsidies, including for electric cars,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “General Motors made a big China bet years ago when they built plants there (and in Mexico) — don’t think that bet is going to pay off. I am here to protect America/s Workers!”
