Markets around the world rose on Thursday, the day after a panel of U.S. judges blocked President Trump from imposing some of his steepest tariffs, which have threatened to squeeze consumers, snarl supply chains and dent corporate earnings.
Futures for the S&P 500 index jumped 1.5 percent, suggesting that stocks will open sharply higher when trading begins in New York. Although the ruling is subject to appeal, the latest twist in the on-again, off-again tariff drama is set to “lift investors’ spirits,” wrote Derren Nathan, head of equity research at the brokerage firm Hargreaves Lansdown.
Nvidia, the chip giant, was also pulling the market higher, after it reported strong earnings growth on Wednesday and suggested that the tech industry’s embrace of artificial intelligence had ample room to run. Its stock, which exerts an outsize influence over major indexes, surged more than 6 percent in premarket trading.
Markets elsewhere also rallied, with stocks in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea all rising more than 1 percent. Indexes in France and Germany gained about half a percent.
The dollar, which has been under pressure since Mr. Trump started a trade war with U.S. trading partners, rose on Wednesday. Oil prices, which have dipped on fears that a slowdown in trade would hamper economic growth, also jumped. The price of gold, which has set a series of record highs as investors flocked to the traditional haven in times of turmoil, slipped.
Investors sold U.S. government bonds. The yield on the 30-year Treasury note, a focus for investors after Mr. Trump’s bill to cut taxes deepened worries about debt and deficits, rose back above 5 percent. A significant reduction or cancellation of a chunk of U.S. tariffs “would be bad news for Treasuries since it would reduce a significant source of income and widen the budget deficit over the coming decade,” analysts at Panmure Liberum wrote in a note.
They added that the court ruling suggests that in the long run, “extreme tariffs and rapidly changing tariffs are less likely to happen going forward, which reduces uncertainty somewhat.” But in the short term, they said, the ruling and subsequent challenges to it “will add significant uncertainty to the mix, making it even harder for U.S. businesses to plan.”
That suggests markets could continue to veer up and down on tariff developments, as investors now parse court rulings and appeals in addition to Mr. Trump’s threats, delays and concessions.
Jason Karaian is the business news director, based in London. He was previously the editor of DealBook.
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