US open: Stocks higher as Trump talks up China deal, Tesla rallies on Musk buy

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Monday after Donald Trump said trade negotiations with China were going well.

As of 1440 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09% at 45,877.10, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.34% to 6,606.77 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.49% firmer at 22,249.71.

The Dow opened 42.88 points higher on Monday, taking a small bite out of losses recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index was weighed down by cautious sentiment ahead of next week's Federal Reserve policy decision and mixed economic signals.

The Federal Reserve was widely expected to cut interest rates at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday, with futures markets pricing in a 96% probability of a 25-basis point reduction, while a more aggressive 50-basis point cut was seen as far less likely.

Traders zeroed in on news that top US and Chinese officials had entered a second day of negotiations on tariff rates and the looming deadline for divestment of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok. Trump described the talks as being "positive", adding that a deal had been reached concerning a "certain" company popular among young Americans, widely interpreted as a reference to TikTok. According to Reuters, Washington will proceed with its TikTok ban unless Beijing agrees to scale back demands on tariff relief and technology restrictions. The report cited a senior US official familiar with the discussions.

In the corporate space, Nvidia shares were lower in early trading after Chinese regulators said the chipmaker had breached anti-monopoly laws. The State Administration for Market Regulation said a preliminary investigation found Nvidia in violation of competition rules tied to its 2020 acquisition of Israeli networking firm Mellanox. The probe, launched late last year, centres on conditions imposed during the deal's approval and certain post-transaction agreements.

Elsewhere, Tesla shares traded higher after chief executive Elon Musk disclosed a $1bn insider purchase, his largest open-market buy to date and first major acquisition since 2020. Musk's move was seen by traders as a show of confidence in the company's strategic pivot towards robotics, amid rising competition in the EV sector.

On the macro front, business activity across New York State's manufacturing region unexpectedly declined, according to a closely followed survey by the New York Federal Reserve, as new orders and shipments both fell sharply. The headline general business conditions index of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey sank 21 points to -8.7 in September, marking its first negative reading since June. This was down from 11.9 in August and below the consensus forecast of 5.0, marking the sixth time in nine months that activity has contracted so far this year.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.68 2.50%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $256.51 1.21%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $235.60 0.65%

American Express Co. (AXP) $327.30 0.61%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $784.66 0.59%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $308.67 0.57%

Visa Inc. (V) $340.80 0.40%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.15 0.40%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $243.72 0.40%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $116.39 0.37%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $344.43 -2.29%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $82.04 -0.92%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $419.01 -0.87%

3M Co. (MMM) $156.74 -0.71%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $66.62 -0.58%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $303.65 -0.57%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $72.68 -0.44%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $24.94 -0.40%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $156.71 -0.25%

Boeing Co. (BA) $215.79 -0.07%

S&P 500 - Risers

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $208.25 6.26%

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $305.69 4.62%

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $79.35 4.44%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $101.68 4.12%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $248.27 3.10%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $248.74 3.05%

Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $109.48 2.83%

Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $142.90 2.52%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.68 2.50%

Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $85.61 2.34%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Centene Corp. (CNC) $32.17 -3.28%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $177.14 -2.99%

Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $61.62 -2.77%

Altria Group Inc. (MO) $65.00 -2.48%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $344.43 -2.29%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $112.00 -2.23%

Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $34.06 -2.04%

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $5.93 -1.90%

CVS Health Corp (CVS) $73.56 -1.89%

Macy's Inc. (M) $16.67 -1.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $208.25 6.26%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $417.10 5.34%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $101.68 4.12%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $839.97 3.21%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $248.27 3.10%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $248.74 3.05%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.68 2.50%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $355.48 1.75%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $67.87 1.47%

NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $154.90 1.37%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $177.14 -2.99%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $112.00 -2.23%

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $63.67 -1.58%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $175.81 -1.13%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $12.77 -1.05%

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $242.86 -0.96%

CSX Corp. (CSX) $32.18 -0.89%

PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $101.69 -0.80%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $90.16 -0.70%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $120.63 -0.68%