World Markets Regain Some Ground After Trump Tariffs Shock Investors
April 8, 2025, 3:49 AM PDT — Global financial markets clawed back some losses Tuesday after a bruising week sparked by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout, which erased trillions in investor wealth and stoked recession fears. Shares in Europe and Asia posted modest gains, while U.S. stock futures hinted at a tepid opening, signaling a fragile reprieve from the tariff-driven turmoil that has gripped the world economy since Trump’s April 2 announcement of a 10% baseline duty on all imports, with steeper levies like 34% on China and 25% on Canada and Mexico.
The rebound followed Monday’s rollercoaster session, where the S&P 500 shed 0.2% after swinging wildly—down 4% at its nadir—before closing mixed alongside a 0.9% Dow drop and a 0.1% Nasdaq uptick. The recovery, reported by NPR at 2:30 PDT, saw Tokyo’s Nikkei surge 6% after hitting an 18-month low, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite edged up slightly. European markets opened positively, with Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC gaining 1-2%, though analysts cautioned that the uptick repairs only a sliver of the $6.6 trillion lost since last week, per The Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s tariffs, escalated Monday with a threat of 50% duties on China effective Wednesday unless Beijing bends, have jolted investors. China’s rejection of “blackmail,” per Reuters at 3:29 PDT, and its 34% counter-tariffs signal a deepening trade war, yet markets found footing as some bet on negotiation leeway. “This is a pause, not a pivot,” said Mona Mahajan of Edward Jones to Reuters. “The tariff reality’s still sinking in—growth’s at risk.” Gold soared past $3,000 an ounce as a safe-haven bulwark, while the U.S. dollar weakened further against the euro and pound, defying its usual refuge status.
The tariff shock, the steepest U.S. trade barrier in over a century per Reuters, has drawn fierce criticism. JPMorgan now sees a 60% recession odds by year-end, up from 40%, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell, speaking Monday, flagged “larger than expected” inflationary risks, hinting at cautious rate moves. Trump, unfazed, told reporters from Florida, “Tariffs will make this country very rich,” dismissing a false headline of a 90-day pause that briefly spiked markets Monday, per NBC News. Posts on X reflected the unease, with one user noting, “Markets bounce, but the tariff wrecking ball’s still swinging.”
For now, the slight uptick offers breathing room after a $5 trillion S&P 500 wipeout since April 2, per Reuters. Yet with Trump digging in—50 nations seek talks, Canada vows countermeasures, and Elon Musk pushes for a rollback—the tariff saga’s far from over. Investors, bracing for Wednesday’s China deadline, know this recovery’s on shaky ground. As one X post quipped, “A ray of hope or a false dawn? We’ll see.”
