After four consecutive days of heavy losses, the U.S. stocks bounced back in a big way on Wednesday. The reversal of fortunes was prompted by President Donald Trump’s announcement about a 90-day pause on sweeping reciprocal tariffs he imposed last week.
“I have authorized a 90-day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.
Speaking with reporters later in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that reciprocal tariffs were a “successful negotiating strategy” while explaining that the 90-day pause actually means the return of the baseline 10% tariff rate.
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the U.S. stocks embarked on a ferocious rally. The benchmark S&P 500 soared 9.52% or 474.13 points to close at 5,456.90. This was the biggest single-day gain for the index since 2008.
Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded its second-biggest daily gain in history. It improved by 1,857.06 or 12.16% to close at 17,124.97 points.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by 7.87% or 2,962.86 points and ended Wednesday’s session at 40,608.45.
Overall, more than 30 billion shares, worth $1.5 trillion, were traded on Wednesday, marking Wall Street’s record in the last 18 years of available data.