Indian Markets Closed For Mahavir Jayanti

(RTTNews) - Indian markets remain closed today on the occasion of Shri Mahavir Jayanti.

Finally, there is some relief flowing through financial markets worldwide amid optimism that U.S. tariff rates will ultimately end up lower than they are threatened today.

Recession and stagflation worries have eased somewhat after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced a 90-day pause on new "reciprocal tariffs" on most countries to allow for negotiations, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that tariffs would be brought down to a "universal 10 percent" level during this period.

However, Trump increased duties for China from 104 percent to 125 percent immediately, making Beijing increasingly isolated for its "lack of respect" shown to world's markets.

This came hours after China announced an 84 percent tariff on the U.S. and the European Union approved its first retaliation measures in response to Trump's tariffs.

Reiterating his criticism of China for "robbing" and "ripping off" the U.S. economy for decades with its punitive tariff structures, unfair trade practices, currency manipulation tactics, and unjustified subsidy norms, Trump wrote that "At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the USA, and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable."

White House advisors reportedly claimed the flip flop was always the strategy, suggesting that the past week of massive tariffs that triggered huge market losses was all for show.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists rescinded their forecast for a U.S. recession after the tariffs pause announcement.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around half a percent each on Wednesday, tracking weak cues from global markets amid global tariff tensions.

The rupee fell by 43 paise to close at 86.69 against the dollar, extending its losing streak for the fourth straight session as the Reserve Bank of India reduced its key policy rates for the second straight meeting and also changed its monetary policy stance to accommodative.

Foreign investors offloaded Indian shares worth Rs 4,358 crore on Wednesday, marking their eighth consecutive session of selling, while domestic institutions bought shares to the extent of Rs 2,976 crore, as per provisional data.

Asian markets were sharply higher this morning, with Japan's Nikkei surging nearly 8 percent.

A gauge of the dollar slipped for a third day while yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasuries edged lower.

Oil steadied after rebounding over 3 percent on Wednesday. Gold rose toward $3,090 per ounce after posting its biggest one-day gain in 18 months amid rising U.S.-China tensions.

U.S. stocks soared to one of their best days in history on Wednesday following the tariff pause announcement. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 12.2 percent, the S&P 500 spiked 9.5 percent and the Dow surged 7.9 percent.

European stocks slumped on Wednesday, reversing course after having snapped a four-session losing streak the previous day.

The pan European STOXX 600 plunged 3.5 percent. The German DAX lost 3 percent, France's CAC 40 tumbled 3.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 2.9 percent.