DJI: Dow Jones Pops Almost 3,000 Points as Traders Cheer Trump’s Tariff Reversal

30-stock index posted its best percentage gain since 2020 and the S&P 500 just had its best day since the financial crisis. The Nasdaq? All the way back to 2001.

🚀 Dow Jones Pumps on Trump Post

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI surged 2,962.86 points on Wednesday after President Trump jolted the market with a single post. The reciprocal tariffs are no more, except for China — but investors didn’t really care about that. It was time to buy because everything was on sale and suddenly super attractive.
• “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump posted on his Truth Social. China didn’t make the list as Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% after Beijing said it’s raising its tariffs to 84%.

🤫 That Was the Plan… All Along?

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said that this was the President’s strategy “all along” even though they were both saying these tariffs are permanent and won’t be walked back. Bessent also clarified that all countries except China would return to the 10% baseline tariff rate, down from the sky-high tariffs introduced just days earlier.
• The European Union also made the cut, the White House confirmed to National Public Radio, with the proposed 20% tariff on pause because its own retaliatory tariff wasn’t in effect yet. The baseline 10% tariff will apply to EU goods entering the US.

📈 S&P 500, Nasdaq Rally Hard

• A look across the board: what exactly soared on Wednesday? You probably don’t have enough monitors to pop open every chart that took off. The biggest gainers out there were the companies that were previously battered in fears of punishing tariffs eating into revenue and profits.
• The S&P 500 blasted off with a 9.5% increase for its best day since the financial crisis of 2008. The Nasdaq Composite took it even further, up 12.1%, logging the biggest gain since 2001.