European stocks rally closes off highs as selling resumes on Wall Street

European shares put in their best one-day performance in three years as a relief rally lifted global equities after US president Donald Trump’s decision to pause by 90 days the bulk of “reciprocal tariffs” he had announced on the rest of the world last week.

However, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended the session off its highs, to close 3.7 per cent higher, as selling resumed on Wall Street after a stunning 9.5 per cent rebound by the S&P 500 index in the previous session.

“Today we’ve see markets sort of mechanically rebound across the continent, we’ve had participants reassessing and reducing some of the downside growth risks that we did have in terms of the outlook in Europe,” said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

Uncertainty still remains, however, as Trump further hiked tariffs on Chinese imports. Broader 10 per cent levies, and tariffs on automobile imports also remain in effect.

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DUBLIN

The Iseq All-Share index finished off the day up 2 per cent at 9,574.23, though it remained off 14 per cent for the past four weeks as a whole.

Banking stocks, which had borne the brunt of a sell-off over the past week, were among the main advancers. AIB gained 4.1 per cent to €5.37, while Bank of Ireland rose 3.5 per cent to €9.59 and PTSB nudged 3.2 per cent higher to €1.45.

Property-related equities were also in demand. Cairn Homes rose 2.7 per cent to €1.78, while Glenveagh Properties added 2.4 per cent to €1.43 and Ires Reit moved 1.2 per cent ahead to 95 cents.

Kerry Group lost 1.1 per cent to €88.80 as investors digested results from peer Givaudan. The Swiss group’s taste and wellbeing division – a business comparable to Kerry – reported sales growth that missed consensus expectations.

LONDON

The FTSE 100 finished up by 3 per cent to close at 7,913.25.

Tesco closed 6.1 per cent lower as the UK’s largest supermarket group indicated the growing UK grocery price war would hit its profits.

It said it expects to make as much as £400 million (€463 million) less in profit next year as a result of what boss Ken Murphy called “a very competitive market”, amid aggressive price reductions at rival Asda.

Manufacturer TT Electronics tumbled 9.9 per cent after it warned that US tariffs will knock its profits and risks impacting its ability to keep operating.

Digital marketing firm Brave Bison climbed during the session after striking a deal to buy an influencer marketing business from Rupert Murdoch’s News UK.

EUROPE

Money markets dialled back bets for a European Central Bank rate cut at its meeting this month, seeing around a 97 per cent chance of rate cut in April from fully pricing it the day before. They are pricing in around three 0.25 percentage points cuts by year-end.

All sectors were higher, with the most battered ones this month – banks, miners and energy – advancing 5.2 per cent, 3.8 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively. The rate-sensitive banks index also notched its best day in over three years.

In company news, Barry Callebaut slumped 21.5 per cent to the bottom of the Stoxx index, after the Swiss chocolate maker lowered its annual volume guidance due to what it called “unprecedented volatility” in cocoa bean prices.

NEW YORK

Wall Street’s main indexes were lower again in early afternoon trading on concerns over the impact of high tariffs on global economy, with stocks pulling back from the sharp gains from the previous day on the back of Mr Trump’s tariffs U-turn.

Most S&P 500 sectors nursed losses. Information technology and energy led the fall.

Big Tech came under pressure once again, with Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia each falling.

Automakers General Motors and Ford fell after the previous session’s gains. Downgrades from UBS and Goldman Sachs on the stocks added to their declines.

US earnings season could also offer more insights into the health of corporate America. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase will report first-quarter results on Friday. – Additional reporting, Reuters, PA