Shares in iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) were down less than 1% in pre-market trading on Monday morning, as investors tried to make sense of the latest developments around US president Donald Trump's tariffs.
Late on Friday, the US Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of exclusions from Trump's higher 125% tariff on China and his baseline 10% global levy, which included smartphones, computers and semiconductors. The White House later published a clarification of exceptions, confirming these exemptions.
However, Trump said in a social media post on Sunday: "Nobody is getting 'off the hook' for the unfair trade balances, and non monetary tariff barriers"
"These products are subject to the existing 20% fentanyl tariffs, and they are just moving to a different tariff 'bucket'," he said.
"We are taking a look at semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain in the upcoming national security tariff Investigations," Trump added.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The net effect is positive for tech, especially for giants like Apple (AAPL), which could’ve seen their entire pricing strategy thrown into disarray under the proposed 145% China tariffs.
"Instead, this reprieve, and news that further tariffs will be a couple of months away, gives Apple (AAPL) time to build up its US inventory to cover the current iPhone sales cycle without needing knee-jerk price hikes," he added. "Decisions on pricing can then be made alongside the launch of its latest handset in September."
While Trump's comments signalled exemptions would be short-lived, the temporary reprieve saw stocks in Asia rise on Monday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng (^HSI) index ending the session up 2.4%.
Tech stocks were among those on the rise, with Alibaba (9988.HK) climbing nearly 5% and Baidu (9888.HK) up 4%.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Sentiment was also boosted by the news that Chinese exports rose by 12.4% in March, as companies rushed to get ahead of the tariff implementations, leading to a trade surplus in excess of $100bn (£75.8bn)."
"The next move from the authorities will be influenced by any developments on the current US trade war, with the Chinese reportedly ready to react with new countermeasures and economic stimulus as necessary."
In Europe, chip equipment maker ASML (ASML.AS) was up more than 3% on Monday morning, appearing to be buoyed by hopes of an easing stance around tariffs on tech components.
Dutch company ASML (ASML.AS, ASML) manufactures lithography machines that are key to making chips and so, is key to the sector.
The company is due to release its first-quarter results on Wednesday, with the company having guided to net sales of between €7.5bn (£6.5bn) and €8bn for the first quarter, forecasting this figure for the year to be between €30bn and €35bn.
Derren Nathan, head of equity analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Growth’s being driven by increasing demand for its chip-making systems, as major customers like TSMC (2330.TW, TSM), Samsung (005930.KS), and Intel (INTC) rush to meet the rising need for high-performance semiconductors used in AI and other applications."
"The impressive €36bn order backlog offers some reassurance in terms of revenue visibility in the near term, and we’ll be keeping an eye out to see if there’s been any growth in the backlog next week," he added.
The UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) surged nearly 2% on Monday morning, with bank Barclays (BARC.L) among the biggest risers on the blue-chip index, rising 4%.
Interactive Investor's Hunter said: "UK markets reflected the relief rally at the open, although ever subject to changing conditions which has seen any initial strength dissipating over recent trading sessions as new global developments emerge.
"Nonetheless, the spike in early exchanges reduced the losses of the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) to 1% in the year so far which, while still 9% off the recent record closing high, shows some evidence of continued interest in the UK as an investment destination amid the turmoil elsewhere."
"Initial gains were typified by boosts in stocks with a notable exposure to China such as Prudential (PRU.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L), as well as those indirectly connected to US tech, with rises for the likes of Polar Capital (PCT.L) and Scottish Mortgage (SMT.L)," he said. "The banks were also underpinned by the read across from their US counterparts, with Barclays (BARC.L) in particular rallying given its own stateside set of businesses."
On the FTSE All-Share (^FTAS) – comprised of FTSE 100 (^FTSE), FTSE 250 (^FTMC) and small-cap companies – troubled engineering business Wood Group (WG.L) surged 12%.
This came after the company said it had received a £242m ($319m) takeover offer from United Arab Emirates-based Sidara, which is a privately held network of engineering and design companies.
The offer would also include a potential $450m (£342m) cash injection into Wood Group (WG.L) and comes almost a year after talks around a previous takeover approach from Sidara collapsed.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said that Wood Group (WG.L) shares "recently traded at all-time lows after it was forced to delay results as an independent probe found key financial information had been withheld from auditors".
He added: "This was expected to result in material adjustments to previous financial statements and its balance sheet.
"The latest in a litany of disasters does not seem to have dissuaded erstwhile suitor, Dubai-based Sidara, which has put forward a 35p per share proposal."
"This feels very small beer compared with the 230p on the table before Sidara walked away from a deal last summer but beggars cannot be choosers and such is Wood Group’s (WG.L) perilous position it has little choice but to accept what is on offer, particularly given Sidara is pitching a potential capital injection as part of the agreement," said Mould.
