US close: Stocks skyrocket as Trump announces 90-day tariff pause

(Sharecast News) - Major indices skyrocketed on Wednesday as Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause to a number of his so-called "reciprocal" tariffs.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.87% at 40,608.45, while the S&P 500 advanced 9.52% to 5,456.90 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 12.16% firmer at 17,124.97.

The Dow closed a whopping 2,962.86 points higher on Wednesday, clawing back some of the heavy losses recorded over the previous four sessions.

Major indices soared after Trump announced that he had authorised a 90-day "pause" and a "substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately". However, the president also stated he had again raised the tariff rate on China, this time to 125%.

Trump, who had earlier said it was "a great time to buy", stated investors' fears had been overblown, noting that he thought "people were jumping a little bit out of line". "They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid," said Trump.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went on to clarify that all nations, with the exception of China, would now be on the 10% baseline tariff rate, down from the egregiously high rates that rattled investors.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications surged 20% in the week ended 4 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, more than erasing the three consecutive weekly declines preceding it. Applications to purchase a home were up 9%, in line with a nine basis point drop in benchmark mortgage rates to 6.61%, while applications to refinance a mortgage shot up 35% to their highest level since October.

Elsewhere, US wholesale inventories rose 0.3% month-on-month in February, according to final estimates from the Census Bureau, hitting $902.3bn. Durable goods inventories were up 0.2%, while non-durables rose 0.5%. On an annualised basis, wholesale inventories were 1.1% higher.

Finally, minutes from the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee's latest meeting showed policymakers were almost unanimous in their stance that the US economy faced risks of higher inflation and slower growth, with a number of committee members pointing out that "difficult tradeoffs" could lie ahead for the central bank. The FOMC's March meeting was held after initial tariff announcements from the White House raised uncertainty regarding the US economic outlook and meant policymakers were more in favour of adopting a "cautious approach" and keeping interest rates higher for longer if inflation were to persist.

In the corporate space, Trump supporter and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency, South Africa-born Elon Musk, saw shares in his electric car company Tesla surge more than 22% thanks to the president's tariff pause.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.53 18.75%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $29.86 15.69%

Boeing Co. (BA) $160.82 15.37%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $198.85 15.33%

American Express Co. (AXP) $262.36 13.38%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $91.44 11.89%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $516.87 11.82%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $59.32 11.36%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $390.49 10.13%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $301.01 9.88%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $150.97 0.65%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $303.96 1.38%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.89 1.71%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $10.78 1.79%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.95 2.24%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $162.32 2.48%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $81.91 3.75%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $291.09 3.86%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $578.50 4.60%

S&P 500 - Risers

VF Corp. (VFC) $12.42 27.52%

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $44.90 27.05%

United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $70.83 26.14%

Kohls Corp. (KSS) $7.76 25.57%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $96.84 23.82%

Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $44.27 23.38%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.12 22.60%

Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $50.27 22.58%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $60.27 22.50%

Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $62.05 22.12%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Dollar General Corp (DG) $86.02 -1.92%

Amer Water Works (AWK) $139.00 -1.33%

Kroger Co. (KR) $65.83 -0.81%

CME Group Inc. (CME) $254.13 -0.35%

Cencora Inc (COR) $273.89 -0.31%

Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) $105.77 -0.26%

Cooper Cos Inc. (COO) $331.35 0.00%

Duke Realty Corp. (DRE) $48.20 0.00%

Twitter Inc (TWTR) $53.70 0.00%

Roper Technologies Inc (ROP) $476.97 0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $44.90 27.05%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $272.20 22.69%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.12 22.60%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $60.27 22.50%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $77.87 18.81%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.53 18.75%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $114.33 18.72%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $185.15 18.66%

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $196.63 18.39%

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $161.68 18.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $0.00 0.00%

Celgene Corp. (CELG) $0.00 0.00%

Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $0.00 0.00%

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $0.00 0.00%

Cerner Corp. (CERN) $0.00 0.00%

Mylan Inc. (MYL) $0.00 0.00%

Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $103.90 0.00%

Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $94.42 0.00%

Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $5.77 0.00%

Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $0.00 0.00%