Wall Street climbs on EU tariff delay

Wall Street’s roller-coaster ride created by President Donald Trump’s trade policies whipped back upward on Tuesday, this time because of a delay for his tariffs on the European Union.

The S&P 500 leaped 2% in its first trading since Trump said Sunday that the United States will delay a 50% tariff on goods coming from the European Union until July 9 from June 1. The European Union’s chief trade negotiator later said on Monday that he had “good calls” with Trump officials and the EU was “fully committed” to reaching a trade deal by July 9.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 740 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.5%. They more than recovered their losses from Friday, when Wall Street’s roller coaster dropped after Trump announced the tariffs on France, Germany and the other 25 countries represented by the European Union.

Consumer confidence rebounds

Americans’ views of the economy improved in May after five straight months of declines sent consumer confidence to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely driven by anxiety over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020.

A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market jumped 17.4 points to 72.8, but remained below 80, which can signal a recession ahead.

The Conference Board said the rebound in confidence this month was broad-based across all ages and income groups.

Consumers’ assessments of the present economic situation also improved, with the exception of their view on job availability, which weakened for the fifth straight month.

— Boston Herald Wire Services