US president Donald Trump sparked a further bounce on Wall Street on Wednesday by declaring his administration would pause tariffs on “non-retaliating countries” for 90 days.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 was up 8 per cent in afternoon trading, putting it on course for its best day since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 10.4 per cent, on track for its best day since 2008.
But the news came too late for European markets, which hit earlier turmoil as it appeared the trade war would escalate after the EU and China announced their own tariffs on US imports.
DUBLIN
Most leading Irish stocks plunged on Wednesday. “It’s across the board,” one trader remarked as the market closed.
Insulation and building materials specialist Kingspan closed down 1.66 per cent at €68.05.
Food and ingredients producer Kerry Group shed 3.05 per cent to €90.70.
In the same industry Glanbia fell 3.07 per cent to €9.305.
Traders said Ryanair provided one of the few bright spots, dipping half a per cent to €18.31.
Dalata Hotels slumped 3.87 per cent to €4.595.
AIB shed 5.59 per cent to close at €5.155 while Bank of Ireland was off 5.1 per cent at €9.262.
LONDON
London stocks were among those to sink back after trading restarted following the imposition of Mr Trump’s tariff regime overnight.
The FTSE 100 finished down 2.92 per cent to close at 7,679.48, its lowest since March 2024.
JD Sports shares were higher after the retailer held firm on profit guidance, reassuring investors who held concerns over its exposure to the US market. Its shares were up 9.5 per cent at 69.18 pence sterling at the close.
Assura also made gains on Wednesday after the NHS landlord agreed a sale to US investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Stonepeak Partners in a deal worth £1.61 billion. Shares closed 5.1 per cent higher at 47.5p.
Elsewhere, recruiter PageGroup fell 2.4 per cent to at 250.6p as it said it would target £15 million in annual cost cuts to help support its finances.
Endeavour Mining climbed 40p to 1,778p. Pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, slid 707p to 9,667p as fears grew that Mr Trump would target that industry next.
BP fell 21.3 pence to 332.95p on a slump in crude prices.
Trump’s tariffs: “The rest of the world is now going to de-risk from the United States”
EUROPE
Major European stocks returned to decline on Wednesday after the fresh wave of US tariffs kicked in.
It came after a brief day of respite for financial markets on Tuesday, recouping some of their recent losses over hopes the US could strike some trade deals.
In Paris the Cac 40 ended 3.34 per cent lower for the day while in Frankfurt the Dax index was down 2.96 per cent.
Thyssenkrupp and Rheinmetal were among Germany’s best performers on the day.
The Stoxx 600 index, which tracks leading shares across 18 European markets, was down 3.5 per cent.
US
In the US however, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indeces were climbing around 6pm Irish time after Mr Trump announced he would pause tariffs for 90 days on “non-retaliating” countries. The S&P was up 6.5 per cent at 6.20pm.
Iphone maker Apple was up 3.3 per cent and AI chip maker Nvidia gained 2 per cent. The tech sector was up 1.5 per cent overall.
Eli Lilly and AbbVie, which have operations in the Republic, were down more than 4 per cent on fears the president would hit pharmaceutical imports with tariffs.
Analyst Peter Berezin, chief global investment strategist with BCA Research, told Bloomberg TV that there was scope for further falls as a recession loomed in the US.
“I still think there is downside risk for stocks,” he said. “The economy is turning down, I think a recession at this point is almost inevitable.”
However, he cautioned that stock and commodity prices and credit spreads did not yet reflect this. — Additional reporting: Reuters, PA, Bloomberg
