US stocks end week with gains as Trump announces new trade talks with China

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks closed the week with gains as the non-farm employment data came above expectations last month and President Trump announced delegations from the US and China will meet on Monday in London.

The Nasdaq composite gained 1.2%, or 231.5 points to finish at 19,529.95 and the S&P 500 rose 1.03% to 6,000.36.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.05%, to 42,762.87.

The surge in the stocks came after the non-farm payrolls in the US came better than expected, easing concerns that the economy was facing an imminent slowdown. The payrolls rose 139,000 in May, above market estimates of 126,000.

It also followed hopes of a settlement of the renewed trade tensions between the world's top two economies.

Delegations from the US and China will meet in London next week for talks aimed at resolving the ongoing bilateral trade war, Trump said Friday.

"I am pleased to announce that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, will be meeting in London on Monday, June 9, 2025, with Representatives of China, with reference to the Trade Deal," Trump said on social media. "The meeting should go very well."

The announcement came a day after the US president spent an hour and a half on the phone with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Trump said after the phone that the discussion "resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries" as both countries work to settle a large-scale trade spat.

Following an agreement on May 12 by the world's leading countries to reduce tariff rates during talks, trade talks between the US and China came to a standstill.

In that agreement, the US and China agreed to a 90-day suspension of the majority of tariffs and a reversal of actions taken since the beginning of April.

Both sides have charged the other of breaking the agreement. Trump has accused China of breaching the accord, but Beijing denied the accusations on Monday, calling them "groundless," and threatened to take drastic steps to protect its economic interests.

Meanwhile, Tesla's shares, which plummeted by around 14% on Thursday after the heated exchange between CEO Elon Musk and Trump, closed the week 3.67% higher.