The Australian share market has rebounded after a last-minute delay to US ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs sent equities surging overnight.
The S&P/ASX200 has rallied 347.2 points, or 4.71 per cent, to 7723, as the All Ordinaries shot up 359.7 points, or 4.76 per cent, to 7921.4.
The bounce came after a dramatic Wall Street rally overnight, the S&P500 surging 9.5 per cent higher, its best daily result since the global financial crisis in 2008, as the tech heavy Nasdaq jumped 12.2 per cent.
“Just like that, US President Donald Trump paused higher tariffs on most countries for 90 days and investors jumped back into stocks, gold and oil, selling out of bonds,” Moomoo market analyst Jessica Amir said.
The US excluded China from the break and instead increased tariffs on Beijing to 125 per cent, after China lifted its impost on US goods to 84 per cent from 34 per cent hours earlier.
The U-turn is believed to be a response to dislocation in bond markets as yields surged and confidence in US treasuries began to falter.
“While Trump appeared willing to look through equity market losses, the overnight backflip shows that the bond market remains the ultimate master of markets and politicians alike by virtue of its role as the “plumbing” of the financial system,” IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.
All 11 local sectors were trading higher, led by a 6.8 per cent rally in IT stocks, as materials surged 6.3 per cent and energy stocks jumped 5.8 per cent.
Iron ore and mixed miners helped lift the bourse, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue rising more than 5.8 per cent each, after iron ore futures spiked as much as five per cent overnight on the tariff backflip.
Woodside and Santos rose 6.2 and 5.4 per cent after oil prices spiked more than 10 per cent before settling, with Brent crude futures trading at $US64.62, after struggling to hold the $US60 level on Wednesday.
Financial stocks have clawed back 4.8 per cent but remain in correction territory from mid-February highs, as all big four banks rallied, with Westpac and NAB posting more than 5 per cent gains.
Investment and financial services giant Macquarie was up 7.1 per cent by lunchtime.
Buy-now, pay-later player Zip Co was the top-200’s best performer, up 19.8 per cent to $1.45, with only three companies trading lower.
The Australian dollar has rallied almost three per cent against the greenback to buy 61.36 US cents, after struggling to break above the 60 US cent for most of the week.
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