US stocks rise despite new tariffs, Apple up 1%

Wall Street stocks rose early Tuesday despite an escalation in the US-China trade war with new tariffs announced by both sides.

Analysts said the market's response was due to relief US tariff measures were not more severe.

About an hour into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 26,146.56, up 0.3 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 also climbed 0.4 percent to 2,900.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 7,955.77.

US President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on Beijing, moving forward with tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. The latest round of imports will face 10 percent tariffs through the end of the year, and then the rate will jump to 25 percent.

China retaliated with tariffs on $60 billion in US imports.

Analysts said investors were relieved the United States did not impose 25 percent tariffs on the items at the outset as had been previously discussed.

"People expected harsher measures," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

Consumer tech giant Apple was spared in this round of tariffs, which excluded smartwatches and Bluetooth devices. Apple shares jumped one percent.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told the "Good Morning America" show Tuesday he was "optimistic" the United States and China would resolve their differences.

Other large technology companies also gained, including Amazon, which won 1.9 percent and Netflix, which gained 2.7 percent. Both companies scored multiple victories in Monday night's Emmy Awards for best television broadcasts.

Google parent Alphabet climbed 0.7 percent and Microsoft 1.0 percent.

FedEx slid 5.1 percent after quarterly earnings came in at $3.46 per share, well below the $3.80 forecast by analysts. Executives said the US-China trade conflict had not significantly affected performance but that some economic activity in China was starting to slow as a result of the impasse.

Canadian medical cannabis company Tilray surged 14.6 percent after winning approval from US officials to import a cannabinoid study drug into the United States from Canada for a clinical trial at the University of California San Diego.