By Joe Wallace

Investors took to heart some signs the U.S. could strike deals with major trading partners, even after Beijing said it was prepared for a prolonged battle over tariffs.

Major U.S. indexes advanced about 2% Tuesday, with the Dow industrials rising 750 points.

Nasdaq and other major indexes rose sharply at the open after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration was open to negotiating to reduce tariffs, saying the U.S. could "end up with some good deals." President Trump said he spoke with South Korea's president and that the administration was in discussions with "many" nations.

Later, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Trump won't provide exemptions to his new global tariffs for individual products or companies. Stocks declined from their highs at midmorning.

Markets gyrated wildly Monday, driven in part by hopes for tariff resolution that turned out to be unfounded, before ultimately settling largely unchanged.

The administration also signaled it was open to discussing lower tariffs with Japan, Israel and some other countries. Japanese stocks jumped after Bessent said the country would be prioritized in trade talks.

Meantime, Beijing lashed back at Trump's threat of even higher tariffs on China, raising the specter of an all-out trade war between the world's two biggest economies. "If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end," the country's Commerce Ministry said.

Trump said he will slap an extra 50% tariff on China if Beijing didn't drop plans to retaliate against extra levies he announced last week.

In a sign Beijing is digging in for a protracted battle, the government threw its weight behind the stock market and devalued the yuan against the dollar, pulling a reference rate below a key threshold for the first time since the fall of 2023.

In recent trading:

U.S. stock indexes rallied. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow industrials all gained about 2%.

Treasury yields continued higher. Ten-year yields rose to about 4.21% after settling Monday at 4.164%, after their sharpest one-day rise in a year.

The WSJ Dollar Index weakened.

Japan's Nikkei 225 shot up 6%, after selling off Monday. Other Asian stocks mostly rose, as did European ones, led by the defense sector.

Indonesia's stock market tumbled on reopening after a holiday that began before last week's "Liberation Day." Indonesia was one of several Southeast Asian economies Trump targeted with hefty levies.

Write to Joe Wallace at joe.wallace@wsj.com

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2025 12:40 ET (16:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.