MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks rebounded after tariffs on dozes of countries were suspended. Treasury yields rose after the tariff pause and a successful auction of 10-year Treasurys. Oil prices soared after news of the tariff pause. The dollar fell and gold gained 3% and is up 3.6% over the last two sessions.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stocks rocketed higher after President Trump jolted investors with an announcement that he had authorized a 90-day pause on certain tariffs to most countries.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite roared ahead 12%, its best day in 24 years. The S&P 500 added 9.5% in its biggest gain since 2008, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved ahead 7.9%, its biggest day since 2020. The 2,963-point rally in the blue-chip index was its largest point gain on record.

Also under scrutiny was the selloff in U.S. Treasurys. The yield on the 10-year note, the reference point for trillions of dollars in loans and securities, rose as high as 4.47% before retreating somewhat after the 10-year Treasury note auction was met by strong demand.

Earlier Wednesday, Chinese shares ended higher after a volatile session, supported by defense and consumer stocks, after President Trump's 104% tariff on Chinese goods went into effect.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.3% higher, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 1.8% higher, and the ChiNext Price Index gained 1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 3.9%, tracking Wall Street's losses overnight amid growing worries over U.S. tariffs. Electronics- and technology-related stocks led declines.

Stocks in Australia fell, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index fell 1.8%. Stocks in New Zealand slipped, as the S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0.7%.

COMMODITIES

Crude futures picked up after President Trump paused some tariffs for 90 days, while raising tariffs on China further following Beijing's retaliation.

West Texas Intermediate settled up 4.6% at $62.35, after hitting a four-year low of $55.12 earlier. Brent crude rose 4.2% to $65.48.

The tit-for-tat levies between the U.S. and China are "the elephant in the room," Ritterbusch said in a note. The China oil-demand factor "could preclude the energy complex from fully participating in any further near-term increase in global risk appetite," the firm said. "We don't expect this extreme price volatility to subside anytime soon."

Front-month Comex April gold gained 2.97% to $3056.50 -- the largest one-day dollar gain since March 24, 2020.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Trump Authorizes 90-Day Pause on Reciprocal Tariffs

President Trump said he has authorized a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for all trading partners except China, sparking a broad-based market rally due to the temporary reprieve from the trade war.

The president said Wednesday afternoon on his Truth Social platform that reciprocal tariffs will also be lowered to 10%, effective immediately. That won't be the case for China, which now faces a 125% tariff, Trump said.

Markets surged quickly after the announcement was made. The S&P 500 jumped 7.2%, Dow Industrials were up 6.1% and the Nasdaq climbed 9.2%.

Apple Stock Soars on Tariff News, Hope for Exemption

Apple stock surged Wednesday afternoon after President Donald Trump put a pause on most tariffs, increased levies against goods imported from China, and raised hope that the iPhone maker could be excused from the taxes.

Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social Wednesday afternoon that he is implementing a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries whose rates were above 10%, effective immediately.

Apple's gains were initially puzzling. Trump also said that he has increased China's tariff rate to 125% as the trade battle between the world's two largest economies intensifies. That means goods coming from China are going to get even more expensive than previously expected.

Fed Officials Flagged Risks of 'More Persistent' Inflation From Tariffs

Federal Reserve officials highlighted the risks of longer-lasting inflationary pressures from tariffs when they agreed to hold interest rates steady at their meeting last month.

"A majority of participants noted the potential for inflationary effects arising from various factors to be more persistent than they projected," said minutes of the March 18-19 policy meeting, which were released Wednesday.

Since that meeting, President Trump has imposed broad and sudden tariff hikes that initially exceeded the high end of estimates from most private-sector economists and Fed officials. Trump said Wednesday he would pause for 90 days many of the largest tariff increases while imposing a steeper 125% tariff on China.

Bond Market Calms as 10-Year Treasury Auction Sees 'Very Strong' Demand

The Treasury's auction of 10-year bonds on Wednesday encountered solid demand, lowering yields in parts of the fixed-income market and calming fear that buyers are fleeing U.S. debt. The debt sold at a yield of 4.435%, compared with the 4.465% seen just before the sale. The difference between the two yields-called a stop through-indicated a strong auction, meaning the U.S. government was easily able to sell its debt without needing to entice investors with a yield premium over the market.

"Today's 10-year auction was very strong," wrote Vail Hartman from BMO Capital Markets.

Indirect buyers, a category that typically includes foreign central banks and private investors, bought 87.9% of the supply allotted to them, above the average of 70%. Direct bidders, such as U.S. pension funds, claimed just 1.4%, versus the norm of 17.5%. Foreign buyers can also participate in auctions directly, meaning the strong numbers don't definitively resolve the concern that foreign buyers are fleeing.

Trump Administration Revises Port-Fee Plan to Soften Blow to U.S. Exports

The Trump administration is revising its plan to impose steep port fees on Chinese-built vessels to lessen the impact on U.S. exports, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Trump administration's new plan is to base the fees largely on vessel capacity, resulting in lower fees for smaller ships coming into ports such as Los Angeles, New York, Savannah, Ga., and Oakland, Calif., the people said. The U.S. Trade Representative's office is also looking to ease the charges on ships carrying agricultural exports such as soybeans and timber, the people said.

Reuters earlier reported on the USTR's revised port-fee plan.

Delta Air Lines Pulls Guidance on Trump Tariff Uncertainty. Why Airline Stocks Are Rising.

Delta Air Lines scrapped its full-year financial guidance and warned "growth has largely stalled" given the uncertainty over how developments on global trade will affect the economy.

But with the stock down more than 40% this year heading into earnings and Wall Street expectations tumbling recently, the airline's first-quarter report may have been less bleak than feared. The shares jumped around 7% to $38.34 in early trading. Other airlines rose, too: United Airlines was up 5.5% and American Airlines climbed 4.7%.

For the current quarter, Delta expects earnings of between $1.70 and $2.30 a share, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.21. That isn't far from the $2.36 a share Delta reported in the second quarter of 2024, a bumper year for travel.

Expected Major Events for Thursday

01:00/AUS: Apr Consumer Inflationary Expectations Survey

01:30/CHN: Mar PPI

01:30/CHN: Mar CPI

03:00/SKA: 4Q Non-financial company outstanding debt

07:00/PHI: Philippine Monetary Policy meeting and decision

08:00/TAI: Mar Merchandise trade

22:30/NZ: Mar BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index $(PMI.UK)$

23:50/JPN: Mar Money Stock, Broadly-defined Liquidity

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 09, 2025 17:01 ET (21:01 GMT)

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