We are back here briefly to update you with breaking news of a relief rally underway in the US as stocks soared after president Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries, but slapped China with yet another hike. It now faces a 125% tariff rate.

The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 6%, and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rallied 8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up over 5%. All three major averages had been lower earlier.

"I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately," Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump also announced in the post that the US would be raising its tariffs on China to 125%.

For all the latest updates on Trump's tariffs check our rolling coverage: Trump raises rate on China to 125%.

Well that's all from us today, thanks for following along. Be sure to join us again tomorrow when we'll be back for more of the latest markets news, and all that's happening across the global economy.

With the trade war still ongoing there's sure to be a lot happening.

Until then, have a good evening!

Some £400m of trade and investment wins are set to boost the British economy and deliver economic growth and security for working people as the government vows to back British business through uncertain global times.

Today, the chancellor took part in the 13th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), marking a significant moment in unlocking opportunities as the two countries look to strengthen economic ties and secure a Free Trade Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty.

Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, said:

Today’s EFD was chancellor Reeves’ first with India. It saw the signing of a joint statement unlocking cooperation across a range of business sectors, including defence, financial services, education and development, and strengthened governmental collaboration across growth, economic resilience and international financial issues.

The government is working to make Britain the best country in the world to do business, already bringing in more stability, offering an open trading economy and creating the right conditions for investment.

At the London Stock Exchange today, the chancellor and her Indian counterpart set out plans to generate growth, improve our Financial Services ties and deepen policy cooperation on the UK Industrial Strategy, tax, sustainable finance and illicit finance.

The total commercial package from this dialogue is made up of new announcements worth £128m in export deals and investments, as well as recent deals worth £271m.

Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s largest investment site, has said trading on its platform hit record levels this week as retail investors react to the ongoing trade war.

Monday was the “busiest ever day” for its platform, both in terms of trade and the amount of money flowing through the site, it said.

Around 63% of trades were put towards buying rather than selling stock on Monday, with that proportion jumping to 80% during Tuesday’s trading session.

However, the level of uncertainty in the run-up to Trump’s so-called liberation day has bolstered safe havens such as gold, with net purchases of gold exchange traded funds surging by 157% last week compared to a week before. There has also been a surge in interest in owning gilts since Thursday.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan (JPM), said that a recession in the US was a “likely outcome” as Donald Trump pushes ahead with his tariff plans.

The head of one of Wall Street’s biggest banks said markets were “pricing uncertainty” as China retaliated to US tariffs with 84% levies against American goods from tomorrow.

He told Fox Business:

Donald Trump has turned to his social media platform, claiming that now is a good time to buy. On his Truth Social he wrote:

And that was followed by:

It appears that some investors are in agreement, with the selling pressure easing on stock indices after trading deeper in the red.

EU member states have voted in favour of imposing tariffs on some US imported goods, a statement from the European Commission (EC) confirmed on Wednesday.

The new tariffs will come into effect from 15 April and they will be brought in in three phases.

The statement read:

Billionaire hedge fund boss Bill Ackman, who previously backed Donald Trump has urged him to halt his tariffs to avoid small businesses going bankrupt.

The CEO and founder of Pershing Square Capital, a prominent financier and one-time Trump supporter, said medium-sized businesses would be next to go under unless the US paused tariffs for 90 days.

He wrote on X:

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:

Tech giant Apple (AAPL) lost its title as the world's most valuable listed company on Tuesday, after shares in the iPhone maker slid 5% amid volatility around tariffs.

The fall in Apple's shares took its market capitalisation down to $2.6tn (£2.02tn) and saw it overtaken by fellow tech behemoth Microsoft (MSFT), which has a valuation of $2.63tn.

US stocks resumed a sell-off on Tuesday, ahead of president Donald Trump's higher custom tariffs coming into effect today.

"The reality of the tariff implementation left investors recoiling, leaving the Dow Jones (^DJI) down on the day after a brisk start which had initially propelled the index some 4% higher," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. "The other main indices were also burnt, with the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipping briefly into bear market territory before marginally recovering, and with the Nasdaq (^IXIC) again subject to a barrage of selling."

He said that Tuesday's fall in Apple shares took its year-to-date performance to a cumulative loss of 29%, "in a targeted acknowledgement of the hyper-tariffs being placed on China by the White House".

Trump's sweeping tariffs which kicked in on Wednesday morning include 104% levies on Chinese goods.

See what other tickers are trending here

China's finance ministry has announced an 84% tariff on all goods imported from the US.

The ministry said that these new charges will take effect from 12:01 CST (05:00 BST) on 10 April after the world's second largest economy vowed to take “firm and forceful” steps to protect its interests.

It comes as the latest set of US tariffs, including a huge 104% levy on Chinese imports, took effect today.

Announcing it was raising tariffs from 34% to 84%, China’s finance ministry said:

Brent crude oil futures prices dropped as low as $58.47 on the back of the news, its lowest level since February 2021.

The Italian government is preparing to halve its economic growth forecast for this year after Donald Trump’s tariffs.

According to AFP, growth is expected to be downgraded from 1.2% to 0.6% under a forecast set to be approved by prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet later today.

Meloni criticised the US president’s new tariffs, including duties of 20% on imports from the European Union, urging both sides to reach a deal.

The leader of the hard-right Brothers of Italy party announced Tuesday she would visit Washington on 17 April to talk directly to Trump.

Around 10% of Italy's exports go to the United States, and last year Rome had a trade surplus with Washington of €38.9bn.

EU member states will vote today on a list of US goods to be subjected to retaliatory tariffs.

The list of potential targets facing mainly a 25% levy ranges from agricultural produce, make-up, almonds, yachts, dental floss, soya beans and steel parts and plastics.

In Europe’s first act of retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs, it has been reported that bourbon and wine have been spared.

Most of the tariffs would apply from 15 May, unless blocked by a large majority of member states.

According to Moneyfacts, the average two-year fixed mortgage rate today is 5.3%, down from 5.32% on Tuesday. The average five-year fix is 5.15%, down from 5.17%.

Predictions have grown that UK interest rates could be cut by more than expected this year, if the Bank of England feels it needs to try to make borrowing money cheaper in order to boost the economy.

Mortgage lenders in the UK are now looking at cutting rates amid the global economic turmoil following the introduction of US tariffs, including a 10% tax on goods being imported to the US from the UK.

It comes as Coventry Building Society has today gone sub-4% on a 2-year fixed rate (at 65% LTV with a £999 fee).

The lender is reducing all new and existing residential fixed rates by up to 25 bps (Excl. Offset) and has reduced all Interest–only fixed rates. It has also reduced its buy-to-let fixed rates by up to 0.2%.

The pound moved higher against the dollar in early European trading on Wednesday, up 0.5% to $1.2828. The greenback fell to a six-month low as investors questioned whether the world’s biggest economy would fall into recession.

The dollar extended its losses, with the dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, losing 0.6% to 102.31, its lowest point in half a year.

George Saravelos, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said:

The yield on long-term US Treasury bonds has risen higher than when Donald Trump took office.

The 30-year US Treasury yield, an indicator of long-term federal government borrowing costs, climbed a further 14 basis points in Asian trading hours to 4.91%.

It has climbed higher took office as the president took overall US tariffs now at their highest level since the early 20th century.

Investors usually hope to see bond yields fall during stock market sell-offs as a sign of a move towards safe-haven assets. A rise in yields at the same time as a drop in stocks indicates a loss of confidence in that market.

Yields move inversely to prices, so surging yields mean falling prices as demand drops.

The move in the 30-year bond was more dramatic. The 30-year yield briefly jumped above 5% to its highest since late 2023, according to London Stock Exchange Group data. It was last trading at 4.9157%, or 0.2 percentage points higher than Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank analyst said the move was “adding to the evidence that [US bonds are] losing their traditional haven status”.

He said: “So there’s no sign yet that the market is managing to successfully find a bottom, and it feels like no asset class has been spared as investors continue to price in a growing probability of a US recession.”

Oil (BZ=F, CL=F) prices fell for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, reaching their lowest level in four years as recession concerns mount amid an escalating global trade war.

Brent crude prices lost 2.9% to $60.97 a barrel at the time of writing. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude retreated by more than 3% to $57.72 a barrel.

China has vowed to take “firm and forceful” steps to protect its interests, after US tariffs of 104% came into effect.

Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian insisted that “the Chinese people’s legitimate right to development is inalienable”.

The world’s second-largest economy was the hardest hit by Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, which followed sweeping 10% levies that came into force at the weekend.

The Chinese yuan fell further against the US dollar to a fresh 19-month low on Wednesday after it slid to a record low in offshore markets overnight.

The yuan weakened to a low of 7.3505 per dollar in the morning trading session, the lowest level since September 2023, as investors fretted about the intensifying China-US trade tensions.

The offshore yuan pared losses and climbed about 0.62% to 7.3812 yuan per dollar in Asian trade, after sinking more than 1% in the previous session and hitting its weakest level on record at 7.4288 per dollar overnight, Reuters reported.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and GSK (GSK.L) are amongst the top fallers in London today as US president Donald Trump said his administration was planning to announce a “major” tariff on pharmaceuticals “very shortly”.

Indian pharmaceutical stocks also fell 1.7% on Wednesday. The US accounts for a third of India’s overall pharma exports.

India’s pharma exports to the US mostly comprise generics, or cheaper versions of popular drugs. These currently attract almost no US levies, while India imposes about 10% tax on US pharma imports, according to industry experts.

The BBC has a great breakdown on the timeline of how we got to where we are today. Here's a snapshot from Trump's inauguration to today:

• 20 January: Trump uses his inauguration speech to outline plans to overhaul the trade system "to protect American workers" and introduce tariffs on foreign countries "to enrich our citizens"

• 1 February: He announces a 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican imports to the US — and an additional 10% on China

• 3 February: Mexico and Canada reach a deal to pause US tariffs for one month

• 10 February: Trump announces a 25% import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the US

• 4 March: The White House places an additional tariff on Chinese imports

• 12 March: Trump's 25% steel and aluminium tariffs take effect

• 26 March: The White House reveals new 25% duties on car and car parts coming into the US — those take effect from 2 April

• 2 April: Trump announces the US will impose "reciprocal tariffs" on certain countries, as well as a universal 10% levy on imports from all other countries

• 5 April: That 10% "baseline" tariff comes into effect

• 9 April: Custom tariffs on roughly 60 countries — dubbed the worst offenders — come into effect