Markets Gain as Apple Exemption, Fed Cut Bets Lift Sentiment – Europe Market Wrap

US equity futures rose after the Kremlin confirmed Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet for summit talks within the next few days, raising hopes of a truce in Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 added 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Apple Inc. climbed in premarket trading after announcing a $100 billion US investment that may exempt it from President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff on chip imports. Apple suppliers including Corning also gained.

Meanwhile, Eli Lilly shares plunged after the drugmaker reported underwhelming study results for its weight-loss pill. Shares of its main European rival, Novo Nordisk A/S, soared.
A gauge of the dollar declined for a fifth day, the longest streak in almost four months. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher. Crude oil pared gains.

A gauge of the dollar declined for a fifth day, the longest streak in almost four months. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher. Crude oil pared gains.

The Stoxx Europe 600 benchmark advanced more than 0.8%, with the the travel and leisure sector outperforming. A basket of stocks exposed to Ukraine rose, while defense shares dropped. Upbeat earnings from some of the region’s biggest companies helped boost sentiment, even after German industrial production suffered its biggest drop in almost a year in another setback for Europe’s largest economy.

Market sentiment got a boost earlier after Trump announced that companies producing goods in the US, such as Apple, would be eligible for exemptions from his proposed 100% levy on chip imports. Increasing speculation on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut are also supporting optimism in stocks as sweeping new tariffs to reshape global trade officially took hold Thursday.