US stocks soar on Trump's tariff reversal

Trump's reversal was too late for Asian and European stocks, which saw another sell-off. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

US stocks soared this evening in the wake of US President Donald Trump's announcement that he was pausing tariffs for a 90-day period.

Trump declared the pause on a set of broad tariffs while raising duties to 125% for China. While investors were still left with uncertainty, the announcement sent traders shopping for beaten-down stocks which had fallen by more than 12% in recent days.

At the close, the S&P 500 was up more than 8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2,736.95 points, or 7.27%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 11%.

Trump's reversal was too late for Asian and European stocks, which saw another sell-off. 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slumped 3.5%, as the previous session's rally fizzled out. The index is currently more than 16% below its March all-time closing high, nearing the 20% threshold that would confirm a bear market.

The healthcare sector fell 5.8% to its lowest level since October 2022 after Trump reiterated plans for a "major" tariff on all pharmaceutical imports. Pharma giants Roche, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca all dropped between 6.9% and 5.8%.

In Dubin, the ISEQ All Share Index dropped 2.76% on Wednesday, led by the largest fallers Cairn Homes, AIB and Bank of Ireland dropping between 6.5% and 5.1%. The ISEQ is now down more than 16% from the record high reached just over a month ago.

In London, the FTSE 100 slipped 2.9%, after recording its strongest session since March 2022 in the previous one.

The focus will be on Asian and European markets tomorrow to see what recovery is made.