Stocks surge most since 2020 on Trump reprieve: Markets wrap
Published in Business News
Stocks soared after President Donald Trump said he’d pause some tariffs on dozens of countries for 90 days, signaling a tentative reprieve in trade hostilities that has wiped out trillions from global markets and ignited fears of a U.S. recession.
The euphoric reaction lifted stocks after four sessions of volatile, high-volume trading pushed the S&P 500 to the brink of a 20% bear-market plunge. The benchmark measure surged as much as 8.3% with almost every company gaining. While bonds eased an earlier selloff, they remained down across maturities for a third day.
“The market cares because 90 days gives you much more significant time to negotiate — that’s all the market wants,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.
The recovery in stocks came about three hours after Trump urged Americans to stay calm and continue investing, posting on social media that “this is a great time to buy.” It followed days of mounting market stress in everything from Treasury swaps to credit spreads and a chorus of pleas from Trump’s billionaire allies that he pause the implementation of his global tariff program.
“I haven’t seen volatility like this in a long time,” said Ellen Hazen at F.L. Putnam Investment Management. “The moves we’re seeing in some socks are just unbelievable. What this says is that the market was showing oversold conditions. And so any hint of good news was going send the market up.”
In a social media post, the president said he’d pause higher reciprocal tariffs for 90 days on dozens of trading partners, though it wasn’t immediately clear which nations would receive tariff relief. Those who do would still be taxed at the 10% baseline rate that went into effect on Saturday.
“We all know that the administration is unpredictable, so it will be very, very interesting to see what companies say in their earnings cost next week,” Hazen said.
“Well, first, wow,” said Cayla Seder at State Street Global Markets. “This is certainly a signal of welcomed reprieve, but I don’t believe this is a buy everything rally, sticking to high quality parts of the market to ride out continued uncertainty is reasonable here.”
Amid the volatility of previous sessions some market-watchers counseled caution in reading too much into the bull case. Trump’s tariff threats may have done lasting damage to corporate planning and dented international relations to a point where global economic growth remains in lasting doubt.
“So a 90 day pause on tariffs on ‘non-retaliating countries’ and for China their tariff rate now goes to 125%,” wrote Peter Bookvar of Bleakley Financial Group. “Respite? Further economic suicide? It will all depend on where you source product from of course and unfortunately about $450b is still being imported from China.”
While stocks fell Monday and Tuesday, the possibility Trump would pause the most extreme elements of his program may have put a floor under the market in recent days. A fake social-media post saying tariffs were being delayed ignited a 7% bounce in the S&P 500 Monday morning, demonstrating the potential for tariff relief to move the market.
To Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management, the market is focused on the potential damage - and increased probability of recession - that the breadth and magnitude of the announced tariffs have caused.
“To the extent that some (or all) of that can be rolled back then the market will price in less of a disaster scenario,” he said. “It is very difficult to trade this market because the news changes on a dime, so it’s best to have a longer-term investment plan in place and take advantage of quality companies trading at a discount, when the opportunity arises,” he said.
Corporate highlights:
—Delta Air Lines Inc. withdrew its full-year financial guidance due to uncertainty surrounding global trade, a stark sign of the turmoil rippling across corporate America from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
—As tariff-spooked shoppers begin pulling back on spending, Walmart Inc. is prepping for a worsening economy by using its massive footprint to keep prices low and hunt for ways to take market share.
—Amazon.com Inc. has canceled orders for multiple products made in China and other Asian countries, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter, suggesting the company is reducing its exposure to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
—Morgan Stanley is no longer involved in providing financing for KKR & Co.’s purchase of Swedish consumer-health company Karo Healthcare, according to people familiar with the matter.
—Peabody Energy Corp. said it’s reviewing a deal worth up to $3.78 billion to buy Anglo American Plc’s steel-making coal business after a fire at an Australian mine.
—Airbus SE delivered 136 commercial aircraft in the first quarter, enough to edge out Boeing Co. after stepping up its pace of handovers in March
—ThyssenKrupp AG is exploring exit options for its materials trading unit that could be valued at as much as €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in a deal, people familiar with the matter said, as the sprawling industrial conglomerate looks to streamline operations.
Key events this week:
—U.S. CPI, jobless claims, Thursday
—Fed’s Michelle Bowman’s nomination hearing in Senate for the position of vice chair for supervision, Thursday
—Fed’s Austan Goolsbee, Patrick Harker, Lorie Logan, Jeff Schmid speak, Thursday
—U.S. PPI, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
—Major banks reporting earnings include JPMorgan, Bank of New York Mellon, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Friday
—Fed’s John Williams and Alberto Musalem speak, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
—The S&P 500 rose 7.1% as of 2:08 p.m. New York time
—The Nasdaq 100 rose 9%
—The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.1%
—The MSCI World Index rose 4.7%
Currencies
—The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
—The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0924
—The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.2746
—The Japanese yen fell 1.4% to 148.25 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
—Bitcoin rose 6% to $81,710.49
—Ether rose 9.3% to $1,618.65
Bonds
—The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 11 basis points to 4.40%
—Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.59%
—Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 17 basis points to 4.78%
Commodities
—West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.9% to $61.89 a barrel
—Spot gold rose 2.5% to $3,056.54 an ounce
(With assistance from Winnie Hsu, Ruth Carson, Rob Verdonck, Phil Kuntz, Robert Brand, Julien Ponthus and Anand Krishnamoorthy.)
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