Europe open: Shares jump as US court blocks Trump tariffs

(Sharecast News) - European shares made a strong start to trading on Thursday after a US court blocked President Donald trump's swingeing reciprocal tariffs. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.49% in early deals. Germany's DAX was up 0.66% and France's CAC 40 rose almost 1% on the news.

A federal trade court on Wednesday said Trump's tariff orders "exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs" the three-judge panel wrote, referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

"For weeks, Trump had turned global trade into a game of chicken, daring trading partners to blink first. But today, it wasn't about Trump hitting the tariff brakes or a US-China trade deal -it was a panel of judges in Manhattan. And their message was clear: the Oval Office isn't a trading desk, and the Constitution isn't a blank cheque," said SPI Asset Management partner Stephen Innes.

"But don't kid yourself. The appeal is coming. Trump doesn't fold on first serve. Yet the message has landed: executive overreach may finally have found its ceiling. And with it, a fresh dose of macro stability-at least until the next headline."

The ruling boosted shares in semi-conductor makers, which were braced for the impact of tariffs. ASM, ASML and BE Semiconductor were all higher.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com