AMID THE DOOM and gloom of global economies in turmoil, a glimmer of hope emerged yesterday – a report claiming that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on new tariffs for all countries (except China).

US stocks immediately surged, as traders had been searching for any sign that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be negotiated or halted.

One problem – the report was “fake news”, according to the White House.

Stocks swiftly plummeted back down, leaving a spire-shaped mark on the Dow Jones and S&P 500 charts.

The spike occurred at 10am local time (3pm Irish time) Google Finance Google Finance

During the chaos, Wall Street went on a multi-trillion dollar joyride in just 10 chaotic minutes, before markets snapped back to reality.

The dizzying market U-turn exposed just how jittery the US stock market has become – where even a hint of hope sends stocks soaring, only for rumours to trigger a crash minutes later.

Where did the report come from?

Around 8:30am local time (1:30pm Irish time) yesterday, the US National Economic Council’s Kevin Hassett was asked during a live Fox News interview whether President Trump would consider a 90-day pause to the sweeping tariffs he imposed on many countries last week.

Hassett responded: “I think the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide.”

On X, this news quickly morphed into false claims on social media that Trump would pause tariffs – a small account on X named ‘Hammer Capital’ is credited with first making the false claim.

Shortly after, a popular news aggregator on X known as Walter Bloomberg posted an incorrect report declaring that President Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his controversial tariff proposal.

This news was not true, yet a whiplash effect was felt in index funds like the Dow Jones, where stock value rapidly rose before dramatically reversing course minutes later.

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Though the Walter Bloomberg account is not affiliated with any news organisation and has no connection to Bloomberg News, the account has long been considered a reliable source of tech and business news.

Rather than writing its own posts, Walter Bloomberg publicly posts news headlines as they hit the Bloomberg Terminal.

The unsubstantiated online report continued to gain traction after US news outlets CNBC and Reuters relayed the claim.

According to the New York Times, a CNBC anchor read a headline live on air, echoing the reports about Hassett from Walter Bloomberg’s post.

Shortly after, Reuters alerted a headline, citing CNBC as their source.

How much of an impact did the false report have?

When rumours of Trump’s consideration of a tariff pause hit the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, cheers were heard.

The market gained $2.4 trillion in a matter of minutes – in total, the S&P 500 jumped nearly 6% from its level just before the mysterious headline appeared from CNBC and Reuters.

This jump occurred over just 10 minutes between 10:08 and 10:18am (3:18pm Irish time).

Chaos erupted on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when the news was confirmed to be false. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The White House quickly responded saying that the report was “FAKE NEWS,” and CNBC and Reuters issued statements correcting the record.

Stocks then plummeted immediately – losing over $2.2 trillion in gains by 10:40am.

The Dow Jones , which had risen nearly 900 points, fell back to 37,318.88 (it had been at 37233.94 before the surge)

Despite this major fluctuation, the S&P 500, which tracks 500 of the biggest companies in the US, ended the day down only about 0.2% after the major fluctuations.

In the days after Trump’s announcement last week, stock markets in the US and globally were hit by their worst one-day falls since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

The S&P 500 has seen more than 10% of its value wiped out over four days – a drop almost as steep as the declines seen during the 2008 financial crisis and at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

The index is now trading at levels seen roughly a year ago.