Most stock markets across the world rebounded strongly after US President Donald Trump's stunning U-turn on sweeping reciprocal tariffs on most trading partners. The American leader on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on the most onerous new tariffs on imports to the United States for every country except China.
Trump's announcement came on Wednesday afternoon after days of market turmoil, with bond prices and the US dollar selling off earlier in the day on fears that the administration's plans to raise tariffs to levels last seen more than 100 years ago would push the economy into recession.
The news of a pause brought sudden relief to the market, sending US stocks soaring, while markets in the Asia Pacific region also witnessed a strong rebound in early trade on Thursday.
On Wall Street Wednesday, the Dow index soared to close nearly eight percent higher while the Nasdaq rose over 12 per cent to notch its best day in 24 years.
The S&P 500 ended 9.5 per cent higher, posting its best day since 2008. The one-day gain was the third biggest since World War II for the main stock market benchmark, according to FactSet.
The Nasdaq rose 12.2 per cent in its biggest one-day gain since January 3, 2001, and its second-biggest on record. But investors said uncertainty about the longer-term plan for tariffs persisted.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 8.3 percent in morning trade on Thursday, while in Seoul, the Kospi was up over five percent. In Australia, the ASX 200 jumped more than six percent.
Stocks surged in Hong Kong as well, while Shanghai also advanced even as Trump ramped up levies on China to a punishing 125 per cent.
The Hang Seng Index climbed 2.69 percent, or 545.94 points, to 20,810.43, while the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.29 percent, or 41.03 points, to 3,227.84.
Taiwan stocks surged 9.2 percent in early trading, tracking global markets higher. The Taiex index jumped 1,590.79 points to 18,982.55 in the first five minutes of trading, as Taiwanese tech giants TSMC soared 10 percent and Foxconn 9.8 percent.
In Vietnam, stocks soared more than 6.5 percent on Thursday after Washington delayed the imposition of a 46 percent tariff on exports from the country. The main index was up by 72.41 points, or 6.62 percent, to 1,166.71 points shortly after opening on Thursday.
Indonesia's benchmark stock index rallied nearly five percent higher at the open. The Jakarta Composite Index was up 289.2 points, or 4.85 percent, to 6,257.18 shortly after markets opened on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen, seen as a safe haven, climbed by 0.64 percent against the greenback, to 146.83 yen to the dollar, and gold gained 0.5 percent to 3,097 dollars an ounce.
"Pivotal Moment'
Masayuki Kubota from Rakuten Securities in Japan told news agency AFP that Trump's announcement was "a wonderful big surprise".
Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management Group in Boston, called the move a " pivotal moment we've been waiting for."
"The timing couldn't be better, coinciding with the start of earnings season. However, uncertainty looms over what happens after the 90-day period, leaving investors to grapple with potential volatility ahead," Bolvin told Reuters.
The selloff in U.S. assets since Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs on April 2 has been broad and deep, with Deutsche Bank analysts in a note earlier on Wednesday saying that the "market has lost faith" in them and the world was entering uncharted territory in the global financial system.
