04:28 PM EDT, 04/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange rose for the first time in five sessions on Wednesday, rebounding by 5.4% after U.S. President Donald Trump backed off on most of his global tariffs that threatened to cause a global recession, although he ratcheted up his trade war with China.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 1,2220.13 points to closed at 23,727.03, after trading as low as 22,228.00 prior to Trump's afternoon announcement. Among sectors, Base Metals and Information Technology led gains with 11.74% and 10.74% respectively.

The market's rebound on Wednesday came as Trump said on social media he had authorized a 90-day pause on tariffs. As is common, it was left to one of his administration team to largely try and explain what exactly was meant. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later told media that Trump was pausing so-called 'reciprocal' tariffs on most of the country's largest trading partners, but keeping 10% tariff on nearly all global imports. Trump, himself, did say that he was raising tariffs even higher against China, up to 125%, from 104% that came in to effect overnight.

Reflecting the continual flip flopping on tariffs, Canada's International Trade Minister Dominic Leblanc reached out to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seeking clarity on Trump's latest tariff move, according to Canada's CTV News. The Wall Street Journal later reported both Canada and Mexico will not be subject to the 10% levy.

Meanwhile, Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities, said the announcement was the news he and everyone on the Street was waiting for as the pressure on Trump "took on a life of its own" and the "eye popping" rise of the yield on the 10-year treasury note was "ultimately too much to hold his line on the self-inflicted Armageddon tariff unleashed at midnight." Ives added: "Now we would expect massive negotiations across the board over the coming months including China being front and center as the biggest wild card."

In a sign of just how much the tariffs were front of mind for many, TD Economics, in looking at the Fed Meeting Minutes released today after the Trump news, noted that while the FOMC held interest rates constant at the conclusion of its March 18-19 meeting, the minutes "unsurprisingly showed that increasingly negative sentiment in financial markets and uncertainty about future policies were taking a more prominent place in the committee's deliberations".

TD added: "The clear statement that the committee feels it can be patient in assessing the evolution of the economy and its response to policy changes suggests the FOMC will not be in a hurry to provide support via lower interest rates despite recent events. In fact, the focus on inflation, rising inflation expectations, and the difficult tradeoffs that could results, as well as the explicit declaration of seeking clarity, all seem to indicate that the committee will not take returning to the rate-cutting path lightly."

Elsewhere, Nigel Green, chief executive of independent financial advisory and asset management organization, deVere Group, said the start of "the great tariff backpedal is officially underway".

Bloomberg noted the CBOE VIX Index, which measure volatility in options on the S&P 500 Index, plunged 18 points on Wednesday to 34 after Trump said he had ordered the pause on tariffs for most countries. Over the past week the VIX has been hitting similar thresholds to the level the gauge reached in March, 2020, the start of the pandemic, it added.

Of commodities today, gold futures were sharply higher late afternoon on Wednesday as the dollar fell and yields moved higher after Trump's tariffs update. Gold for June delivery was last seen up $122.00 to US$3.3,112.20 per ounce, nearing the April 2 record high of $3,166.20.

Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose off four-year lows on Wednesday as stock markets surged following the announcement, lessening pressure on commodity prices. WTI oil for May delivery closed up $2.77 to settle at US$62.35 per barrel after earlier touching US$55.12, the lowest since early 2021. June Brent oil was last seen up $2.72 to US$65.54.