Washington:
Following a dramatic turn of events, Wall Street witnessed a significant surge in stock prices on Wednesday. This sudden rise was seen across all three major indexes as US President Donald Trump made a last-minute decision to delay imposing new tariffs just hours after they were set to take effect.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average skyrocketed by 7.9 percent, closing at 40,608.45, while the S&P 500 Index experienced a strong rally of 9.5 percent, ending at 5,456.90.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, which focuses on technology stocks, jumped by an impressive 12.2 percent, reaching 17,124.97.
Investor sentiment shifted positively as Trump announced a 90-day pause on country-specific tariffs, with the exception of those targeting Chinese goods. Instead, other US trading partners would face a temporary 10 percent tariff rate, reverting to levels set over the weekend that had already caused market turmoil.
In a bold move, Trump specifically increased the tariff rate on Chinese goods to 125 percent, citing China’s lack of respect for global markets as the reason for this drastic action.
“When markets are anticipating the worst-case scenarios, it doesn’t take much positive news to reverse that sentiment,” explained Art Hogan from B. Riley Wealth Management.
He also noted that investors were eagerly awaiting signs of a more rational trade process, which could potentially reduce the negative impact on economic activity and earnings.
However, Hogan cautioned that “China will now be acutely aware of the fact that they are increasingly isolated in this trade dispute.”
(This article has been sourced from a syndicated feed and has only been modified for formatting purposes)