HSBC and Standard Charted shares surge as trade war cools
Shares in banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered surged on Monday morning as the trade tensions between the US and China appeared to cool.
HSBC jumped nearly four per cent, taking its gains for the month to over 14 per cent.
Standard Chartered soared over seven per cent, with monthly gains topping 17 per cent.
The lenders suffered a stock plummet in the wake of President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ levies, but calmer waters have helped shares recover.
The US and China attended trade talks in Switzerland, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as “productive and constructive”.
China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng said the discussions were “in-depth” and “candid”.
The talks followed Trump slapping a 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports. Beijing had retaliated with a 125 per cent levy on some US goods.
Following discussions, the White House revised its overall levy on Chinese goods to 30 per cent while China cut its tariffs to ten per cent, raising hopes that trade tensions will ease – though tariffs will still remain far higher than they were before Trump’s tariff onslaught.
“Markets have welcomed the tentative US-China trade agreement with open arms,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said.
“While the trade spat has only been dialled back for 90 days, it’s a major breakthrough as far as investors are concerned. The fact the two countries were talking was already a major win given they’ve been at each other’s throats during the first and second Trump presidential terms.”
HSBC and Standard Chartered make tariff recovery
Standard Chartered’s stock had lagged behind its FTSE 100 peers in recovering from the tariff shock.
Both lenders have extensive ties to Asian economies, which were attacked with sizeable tariffs from President Donald Trump.
London-headquartered HSBC is one of the largest international banks in Asia, with its business roots tracing back to Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Standard Chartered’s operations focus on emerging markets and the growing middle class across India, China and Indonesia, through retail services like savings and checking accounts.
The lender’s five-day loss reached 20 per cent as China and the US ramped up trade attacks. Meanwhile HSBC had topped 15 per cent.
But Monday’s rally put the banks almost level with their pre-tariff trading price.
HSBC rose to 882p, compared to 883, and Standard Chartered 1,143p to 1,152.