Stocks rose on Monday after President Donald Trump said he would delay placing additional tariffs on Chinese goods. Equities also got a boost from dealmaking activity.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped as much as 209.61 points before closing 60.14 points higher, at 26,091.95 led by gains in Caterpillar and DowDuPont. The gained 0.1 percent to 2,796.11 as the materials and tech sectors outperformed. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.36 percent to close at 7,554.46. The major indexes fell towards the lows of the day in the final minutes of trading.

Trump said in a series of tweets the U.S. would not add more tariffs on imports from China at the start of March. He cited "substantial progress" in bilateral talks between the world's two largest economies, including intellectual property protection and technology transfer issues. However, he did not state a new deadline.

Tweet

Tweet

Chinese stocks rallied on Trump's tweets overnight. The Shanghai Composite surged 5.6 percent, posting its biggest one-day gain since July 9, 2015. Meanwhile, the iShares China Large-Cap exchange-traded fund (FXI) gained 2 percent in U.S. trading. Trade bellwethers Caterpillar and Boeing rose 1.97 percent and 0.67 percent, respectively.

"As long as China and the U.S. are talking, the market will think something will get done," said Michael Cuggino, president at Permanent Portfolio Funds. "That's a good thing."