The stock market experienced a significant surge on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 jumping nearly 8% following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on proposed tariffs for non-retaliating countries. However, China is not included in this pause and will face a 125% tax rate increase on imported goods.
Media and tech stocks saw a rally in response to the announcement, with companies such as Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Nvidia, Fox Corp., and Microsoft all experiencing gains ranging from 6.5% to 17%. This boost comes after a period of sharp declines in the U.S. stock market due to fears of a trade war and economic recession stemming from President Trump’s proposed tariffs.
Just last Friday, the S&P 500 closed down nearly 6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a significant drop of 5.5%, marking the biggest single-day declines since June 2020 during the COVID pandemic. The Nasdaq Composite also fell 5.8%, entering bear-market territory as it dropped more than 20% from its December 2024 high.
President Trump’s tariffs imposed a 10% baseline levy on imports from all countries, with higher rates for specific regions and countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the European Union. The 10% tariffs went into effect on April 5, with the higher duties scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
As the situation continues to develop, stay tuned for more updates on how these tariffs and trade negotiations will impact the stock market and the global economy.
