The Latest: Trump lobbies for sanctioned Chinese telecom

WASHINGTON — The Latest on the surprising overture to China from President Donald Trump, who said he will help the telecommunications company ZTE get “back into business,” though the company is under sanction by the U.S. (all times local):

12:55 p.m.

A slew of technology companies are climbing in early trading after President Donald Trump appeared to lobby on behalf of ZTE, a Chinese telecom company that has been sanctioned by the U.S.

The U.S. government cut off ZTE’s access to American suppliers in April in a case involving illegal exports to North Korea and Iran. Early this month ZTE halted core operations.

Trump said on Twitter that he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to help ZTE because many jobs in China are at stake.

Companies that do business with ZTE reversed some of their losses from last month.

Optical components maker Acacia Communications jumped 11 per cent and optical communications company Oclaro rose 6.8 per cent. Fiber optic component supplier Finisar gained 2.3 per cent and chipmaker Xilinx added 3.8 per cent.