LIVE MARKETS-Tariff reprieve launches Wall Street's strongest rally in years

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

TARIFF REPRIEVE LAUNCHES WALL STREET'S STRONGEST RALLY IN YEARS

U.S. stocks sky-rocketed on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a 90-day tariff suspension.

The S&P 500 .SPX jumped 9.51%, its largest one-day surge since October 2008. The tech-laden Nasdaq .IXIC surged 12.16%, its biggest single-session gain since January 2001 and the second largest in the history of the index.

As for the Dow .DJI, it gained 7.87%, its heftiest daily advance since March 2020.

The small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT rose 8.66%, the biggest one-session gain since March 2020.

Trump's announcement, which arrived less than 24 hours after punishing tariffs against many of the United States' trading partners, also included a hike to duties on Chinese imports to 125%, in response to Beijing's tit-for-tat 84% tariffs on American-made goods.

In the background, a solid benchmark Treasury note auction showed healthy investor demand for U.S. debt despite the recent bond selloff due to the trade war ramp-up, which began in earnest a week ago today as Trump threw his "liberation day" tariff party.

Adding to the noise, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its March policy meeting, which showed policymakers were nearly unanimous in their belief that the U.S. economy faces simultaneous risks of higher inflation and slower growth.

As if that weren't enough, the Labor Department is due to release last month's CPI data Thursday morning, which will offer a second look at last March inflation (after Friday's cooler than expected annual wage growth, part of the March employment report).

Analysts expect headline CPI to post a 0.1% monthly gain and year-over-year growth of 2.6%, both cooler than February's readings.

Core CPI, however, is expected to gain some heat on a monthly basis, rising 0.3%, but easing to a 3.0% annual gain, leaving the metric exactly 1 percentage point to the north of Powell & Co's inflation target.

Here's your closing snapshot:

(Stephen Culp)

FOR WEDNESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

U.S. STOCKS SURGE AS TRUMP ISSUES PAUSE ON RECIPROCAL TARIFFS - CLICK HERE

BENCHMARK TREASURY AUCTION WITHIN EXPECTATIONS - STOCKS SURGE THEN SETTLE - CLICK HERE

AS BONDS TUMBLE, MIGHT THE FED SOON TAP ITS TOOL BOX? - CLICK HERE

CAN ANY APPEARANCE OF CALM BE TRUSTED? - CLICK HERE

MORTGAGE SEE-SAW: RATE DROP LAUNCHES DEMAND TO HIGHEST SINCE SEPTEMBER - CLICK HERE

THE BEAR CAN WAIT: WALL STREET STARTS GREEN AS BARGAIN SHOPPERS EMERGE - CLICK HERE

AMID ELEVATED VOLATILITY, BENCHMARK TREASURY YIELD VAULTS - CLICK HERE

GERMAN BUNDS THE ULTIMATE SAFE HAVEN - CLICK HERE

LOOKING FOR TARIFF BUSTERS? - CLICK HERE

DOLLAR, TREASURIES AND S&P 500 - SOME NUMBERS - CLICK HERE

LESS PANICKED THAN EARLIER, BUT THAT'S A LOW BAR - CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: SHARE SELLOFF RESUMES, TREASURIES IN FOCUS - CLICK HERE

MORNING BID: MARKETS COWER AS 104% TARIFFS ON CHINA BEGIN - CLICK HERE