- Stock markets surged on Tuesday after a thaw in U.S. relations with the European Union over the weekend, with President Donald Trump delaying tariffs for another month.
Stock markets surged on Tuesday, cheered by news that President Donald Trump was delaying imposing recently escalated tariffs on the European Union until July 9. They were originally set to take effect starting June 1.
The S&P 500 rose 2%, putting it within 3.7% of its all-time high. The Dow rose 740 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq rose 2.4%. Stocks also got a boost from improved consumer confidence numbers, with the Conference Board reporting on Tuesday that consumer confidence surged this month, its first rise after five months of decline, after a de-escalation of the trade war with China. Confidence rose 12.3 points, to 98—close to its pre–Liberation Day levels.
“Consumer confidence across various age and income groups rebounded after the U.S. and China agreed to pause retaliatory tariffs,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. “Will the rebound hold? Probably not.”
On Wall Street, investors showed hope that the U.S. and European Union can reach a similar deal. June 1 was the date that so-called reciprocal tariffs were set to kick in on EU products, but Trump, over the weekend, had announced new, higher tariffs of up to 50%.
He walked back the threat on Sunday, telling reporters, “We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it.” The European Union now has until July 9 to strike a new deal if it hopes to bring down the tariff rate.
Nvidia gained 3% ahead of its widely anticipated earnings report Wednesday. It’s the last of the Magnificent Seven technology stocks to report earnings, which so far have exceeded investors’ expectations.
Data-management company Informatica rose 6.2% after Salesforce said it would buy the AI-powered company for $8 billion. Salesforce rose 1.8%.
Yields on the 10-year and 30-year Treasuries fell as investors breathed a sigh of relief. But the threat of future policy changes still looms.
“We focus on actions over words as economic constraints spur policy rollbacks,” BlackRock Investment Institute wrote Tuesday.
