Global stock markets rose Wednesday, brushing off US President Donald Trump's tariff threats on copper and pharmaceuticals.
Investors kept an eye on countries seeking to hammer out tariff agreements before Trump's new cut-off date of August 1.
The US president reignited trade jitters Tuesday by announcing a 50 percent toll on copper imports and saying he was looking at 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
The news sent the price of copper — used in a wide range of things including cars, construction and telecoms — to a record high Tuesday.
The dollar and oil prices strengthened Wednesday while the Dow, the broader S&P and the tech-heavy Nasdaq had all added more than half of one percent a few minutes after the opening bell.
Chipmaker Nvidia barrelled ahead 2.5 percent as growth in the AI sector saw it top $4 trillion in market value, extending its lead for the globe's largest market capitalisation.
Noting tech had endured some lean months going back to the third quarter of last year, eToro's US investment analyst Bret Kenwell noted that “we're seeing growth stocks come to life on the back of AI initiatives, while cybersecurity firms are rallying higher. Mega-cap tech continues to spend fortunes building out the necessary AI infrastructure for the future.”
After Trump said he would allow pharmaceutical manufacturers time to relocate their operations into the United States before rolling out fresh duties equity markets largely took the news in their stride as “details of when, how and who remain thin on the ground”, said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The view of Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, is that “the market is not taking Trump at his word when it comes to tariffs, and the market impact has been limited so far.”
Some two hours from the close London's stock market had added just over 0.1 percent on a session which saw declines in heavyweight mining companies but Paris and Frankfurt were bullish, each adding almost 1.5 percent.
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “cautiously optimistic” on the prospects of a deal between the European Union and US to avert Trump's increased tariffs on the bloc.
The EU wants to strike a deal with the United States “in the coming days”, EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said Wednesday.
Trump warned he would not again extend his August 1 deadline to reach deals, after he pushed back his July 9 cut-off.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo gains were tempered by losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
