Wall Street breathes a sigh of relief and the Nasdaq soars 10%

Wall Street experienced a strong rebound Wednesday after news of US President Donald Trump's decision to pause the application of additional tariffs for 90 days on more than 75 countries that did not announce retaliation to his tariff impositions.

This triggered a positive reaction in the markets: the S&P 500 rose 6.8%, the Nasdaq soared 9.9% and the Dow Jones advanced 6.9%.

Trump authorized this 90-day pause in "reciprocal" tariffs, but made clear that the measure applies only to nations that do not respond with retaliation.

In parallel, the president increased tariffs on China by 125%, a decision that marked a contrast to the suspension announced for other countries. The response from investors was not long in coming, and stocks on Wall Street registered rises of between 6% and almost 10%.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had already indicated that more than 70 countries approached to negotiate with good will after the decision.

Along the same lines, Bessent anticipated "an intense period of negotiations during April, May, and possibly June," given the volume of countries interested in having a dialogue.

He also defended the administration's approach in using trade deficits as the basis for calculating reciprocal tariffs, arguing that "academic studies have shown that it's the non-tariff trade barriers that are the real problem in the US having free and fair access to these markets." 

The European market

Major European indexes extended their losses following China's announcement to impose retaliatory tariffs of 84% on imports from the United States, a significant increase from the previous 34%, effective April 10.

France's CAC 40 posted a 3.3% drop, Germany's DAX lost 3%, and the FTSE 100 UK F FTSE 100 retreated 2.9%.

However, the Japanese Nikkei soared 7%, the DAX advanced 4%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 4.3%, reflecting mixed expectations in the markets in the face of rising trade tensions between China and the United States.

The suspension of additional tariffs and the markets' immediate reaction offered respite to Wall Street, which celebrated the possibility of a partial truce in global trade tensions.