Equity futures rally, but rare earth stocks sink, as top officials bring US-China trade deal close to the finish line
Stock futures are starting off the week on a positive footing after top US and Chinese economic officials said they ironed out many contentious trade issues ahead of a much-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping this week.
US Treasury Scott Bessent said the two sides created “a very successful framework” for their leaders to discuss at a planned meeting on Thursday in South Korea during the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, while China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang agreed that both parties reached “a preliminary consensus.”
The seemingly successful table-setting has S&P 500 equity futures up 0.83% as of 5:52 a.m. ET, extending gains after the benchmark US stock index set intraday and closing record highs on Friday.
Bessent also told the press that Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, which caused temporary angst in markets earlier this month, is “effectively off the table.”
The Treasury Secretary added that he expects China to delay any restrictions on rare earth exports for a year and will start purchasing US soybeans in size once again.
While that’s positive news for a host of US companies that rely on an uninterrupted supply of minerals whose output is dominated by China, it’s also taking the wind out of the sails of some North American producers. As of 6 a.m. ET, Critical Metals is down more than 8%, USA Rare Earth is -7%, Lithium Americas was -3%, while United States Antimony Corp. is being hit the hardest, down more than 15%. Even MP Materials, which saw the Pentagon take a 10% stake in July, hasn’t been spared in early trading, down 5%, as the apparent trade truce reduces some of the urgency to boost local supply.
United States Antimony might also be down on the news that Australian mining company Larvotto Resources has rejected UAMY’s advances, shooting down the $723 million (AUD) scrip bid to acquire the firm proposed last week.
The TikTok deal and fentanyl were also among the topics discussed by negotiators this weekend, as were the tit-for-tat shipping fees that were implemented by both nations at major ports.
President Trump, for his part, told reporters, “I think we're going to have a deal with China.”
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