The Dow Jones surged 7.9 percent to 40,608, and the S&P 500 rallied 9.5 percent to 5,456.
The Nasdaq jumped 12.2 percent to 17,124.
All three indexes bounced on Wednesday afternoon as Trump announced a 90-day pause in country-specific tariffs that came into place earlier that day, except levies on Chinese goods.
Affected US trading partners, excluding China, would instead face a 10 percent tariff rate, temporarily reverting to a level that took effect over the weekend, though that already roiled markets.
Trump singled out the world’s second biggest economy, however, saying its tariff rate would be raised to a prohibitive 125 percent “based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the world’s markets.”
“When markets are pricing in worst-case scenarios, it doesn’t take much good news to turn that opinion around,” said Art Hogan of B Riley Wealth Management.
He added that investors were waiting for any sense of a more reasonable trade process, saying this situation might “be less of a drag on economic activity and earnings.”
But he cautioned that “China will become hyper-aware of the fact that they’re now being isolated in this process.” (AFP)
