Markets welcome court ruling against Trump's tariffs as shares, U.S. dollar and oil gain
The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) are seen at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
Financial markets welcomed a U.S. court ruling that blocks President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law.
U.S. futures jumped early Thursday and oil prices rose more than $1. The U.S. dollar rose against the yen and euro.
The court found the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump has cited as his basis for ordering massive increases in import duties, does not authorize the use of tariffs.
The White House immediately appealed and it was unclear if Trump would abide by the ruling in the interim. The long term outcome of legal disputes over tariffs remains uncertain. But investors appeared to take heart after the months of turmoil brought on by Trump's trade war.
The future for the S&P 500 was up 1.7% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.9% to 38,442.10. American's largest ally in Asia has been appealing to Trump to cancel the tariffs he has ordered on imports from Japan and to also stop 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos.
The ruling also pushed the dollar sharply higher against the Japanese yen. It was trading at 145.98 yen early Thursday, up from 144.87 yen late Wednesday.
A three-judge panel ruled on several lawsuits arguing Trump exceeded his authority, casting doubt on trade policies that have jolted global financial markets, frustrated trade partners and raised uncertainty over the outlook for inflation and the global economy.
Many of Trump's double-digit tariff hikes are paused for up to 90 days to allow time for trade negotiations, but the uncertainty they cast over global commerce has stymied businesses and left consumers wary about what lies ahead.
'Just when traders thought they'd seen every twist in the tariff saga, the gavel dropped like a lightning bolt over the Pacific,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
The ruling was, at the least, 'a brief respite before the next thunderclap,' he said.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1% to 23,482.81, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.8% to 3,365.40.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,409.70.
In South Korea, which like Japan relies heavily on exports to the U.S., the Kospi surged 1.8% to 2,709.42. Shares also were helped by the Bank of Korea's decision to cut its key interest rate to 2.5% from 2.75%, to ease pressure on the economy.
Taiwan's Taiex edged 0.1% lower, and India's Sensex was also down 0.1%.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks cooled, with the S&P 500 down 0.6% but still within 4.2% of its record after charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by Trump's trade war may have passed. It had been roughly 20% below the mark last month.
The Dow industrials lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.
Trading was relatively quiet ahead of a quarterly earnings release for Nvidia, which came after markets closed.
The bellwether for artificial intelligence overcame a wave of tariff-driven turbulence to deliver another quarter of robust growth thanks to feverish demand for its high-powered chips that are making computers seem more human. Nvidia's shares jumped 6.6% in afterhours trading.
Like Nvidia, Macy's stock also swung up and down through much of the day, even though it reported milder drops in revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock ended the day down 0.3%.
The bond market showed relatively little reaction after the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its latest meeting earlier this month, when it left its benchmark lending rate alone for the third straight time. The central bank has been holding off on cuts to interest rates, which would give the economy a boost, amid worries about inflation staying higher than hoped because of Trump's sweeping tariffs.
In other dealings early Thursday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.52% from 4.47% late Wednesday.
U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.06 to $62.90 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added $1.01 to $65.33 per barrel.
The euro slipped to $1.1242 from $1.1292.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
21 minutes ago
- Japan Today
Asian shares slide as Russia-Ukraine conflict, OPEC+ output plan push oil prices higher
A dealer walks past a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) By JIANG JUNZHE Asian shares sank on Monday and oil prices jumped as trade tensions and the Russian-Ukraine conflict ratcheted up geopolitical uncertainty. Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged more than 2% as Beijing and Washington traded harsh words over trade. U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he will double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% layered on still more worries for investors. China blasted the U.S. for issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas. A report over the weekend that China's factory activity contracted in May, although the decline slowed from April as the country reached a deal with the U.S. to slash President Donald Trump's sky-high tariffs, further undermined market sentiment. Markets in mainland China were closed for a holiday. Oil prices rallied after OPEC+ decided on a modest increase in output beginning in July. It was the third monthly increase in a row. U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.80 to $62.59 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up $1.60 at $64.38 per barrel. Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones just hours before a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul and a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia's territory, Ukraine's Security Service said on Sunday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.4% to 22,969.03 as China and the U.S. accused each other of breaching their tariff agreement reached in Geneva last month. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 1.3% to 37,470.67, while the Kospi in Seoul added 0.1% to 2,698.97. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.2% to 8,414.10. India's Sensex lost 0.4% while the Taiex in Taiwan fell 1.6%. On Friday, Wall Street closed its best month since 2023. The S&P 500 retreated less than 0.1% to end at 5,911.69 and the Dow industrials Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher to 42,270.07. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3% to 19,113.77. Gap, the company behind Banana Republic and Old Navy fell 20.2% after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300 million to its costs this fiscal year. It has strategies set to mitigate up to half of that before it hits its profits. Hopes had largely been rising that the worst of such worries had passed, which in turn sent stocks rallying, after Trump paused his tariffs on both China and the European Union. A U.S. court then on Wednesday blocked many of Trump's sweeping tariffs. That all sent the S&P 500 in May to its first winning month in four and its best since November. But the tariffs remain in place while the White House appeals the ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the ultimate outcome is still uncertain. Friday's most influential losses came from several Big Tech stocks. Nvidia fell 2.9% to give back some of its gain from earlier in the week after it topped analysts' expectations for profit in the latest quarter. It was the single heaviest weight by far on the S&P 500. On the winning side of Wall Street was Ulta Beauty, which rose 11.8% after the retailer reported stronger sales and profit than analysts forecast. It also raised the top end of its forecasted range for revenue this fiscal year even though CEO Kecia Steelman called the operating environment 'fluid.' Costco climbed 3.1% after the retailer's results and revenue for the latest quarter edged past analysts' expectations. In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a report showed that the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower in April than economists expected. A separate report from the University of Michigan said that sentiment among U.S. consumers was better in May than economists expected. Sentiment improved in the back half of the month after Trump paused many of his tariffs on China. In currency trading early Monday, the U.S. dollar fell to 143.11 Japanese yen from 143.87 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1405 from $1.1351. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Asahi Shimbun
an hour ago
- Asahi Shimbun
China blasts U.S. for its computer chip moves and for threatening student visas
American flags are displayed together with Chinese flags on top of a trishaw on Sept. 16, 2018, in Beijing. (AP Photo) TAIPEI--China blasted the U.S. on Monday over moves it alleged harmed Chinese interests, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas. 'These practices seriously violate the consensus' reached during trade discussions in Geneva last month, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement. That referred to a China-U.S. joint statement in which the United States and China agreed to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world's two biggest economies. But last month's de-escalation in President Donald Trump's trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington and Monday's statement showed how easily such agreements can lead to further turbulence. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. The Commerce Ministry said China held up its end of the deal, canceling or suspending tariffs and non-tariff measures taken against the U.S. 'reciprocal tariffs' following the agreement. "The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations,' while China has stood by its commitments, the statement said. It also threatened unspecified retaliation, saying China will 'continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.' And in response to recent comments by Trump, it said of the U.S.: 'Instead of reflecting on itself, it has turned the tables and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts.' Trump stirred further controversy Friday, saying he will no longer be nice with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States. Hours later, Trump said in the Oval Office that he will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and 'hopefully we'll work that out,' while still insisting China had violated the agreement. 'The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,' Trump posted. 'So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' The Trump administration also stepped up the clash with China in other ways last week, announcing that it would start revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the U.S. U.S. campuses host more than 275,000 students from China. Both countries are in a race to develop advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, with Washington seeking to curb China's access to the most advanced computer chips. China is also seeking to displace the U.S. as the leading power in the Asia-Pacific, including through gaining control over close U.S. partner and leading tech giant Taiwan.
The Mainichi
3 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Japan's top negotiator arranging more tariff talks in US this week
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's top tariff negotiator is arranging to visit the United States later this week for a fifth round of ministerial-level talks, aiming to reach common ground ahead of a summit between the two countries' leaders eyed for mid-June, a government source said Monday. Ryosei Akazawa, the minister in charge of economic policy, seeks to win concessions over new tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump if he makes the trip to Washington from Thursday. It would be his third visit in as many weeks. The talks could broach Trump's recent decision to double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 percent, effective Wednesday. The new rate was not mentioned in the fourth round of tariff discussions between Akazawa and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held Friday. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump plan to hold talks around the three-day G7 summit scheduled in Canada from June 15.
