At 2.07 pm, the Dow Jones was up 198.75 points or 0.52% to 38,164.35, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.59 points or 0.01% to 5,061.66, and the Nasdaq declined 28.48 points or 0.18% to 15,574.78.
The United States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan.
U.S. President Donald Trump believes that China has to make a deal with the United States concerning additional tariffs that are set to go into effect on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a news briefing.
Trump said he discussed tariffs, among others, in a “great” call with acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview to CNBC that tariff negotiations are the result of calls from other countries, not sliding financial markets, and China’s escalation is a big mistake. China said it will never accept the “blackmail nature” of the U.S. to Trump’s threat to ratchet up tariffs on Chinese imports to more than 100%. “When the perception is that markets are in a deep selloff that creates headlines and is frightening to investors, there comes a time when you get a relief rally,” said Andre Bakhos, managing member at Ingenium Analytics LLC.
Earlier in the day, the Dow Jones surged 1,415.44 points or 3.73% to 39,381.04, the S&P 500 climbed 196.25 points or 3.88% to 5,258.50, and the Nasdaq jumped 675.71 points or 4.33% to 16,278.97.
Big Tech had rebounded from a 2-day fall, with Nvidia jumping 5.6% and Microsoft adding 3%. The information technology sub-index advanced 3.6%, leading gains among the 11 major sub-sectors.
Stocks lost some ground after United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said exemptions to the global tariffs are not expected in the near term.
Financials were among the big gainers, with lender JPMorgan Chase rising 4.5% and the banks sub-index rising 3.3%.
The CBOE Volatility index – seen as Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ – retreated to 40.36 points after rising on Monday to its highest level since August last year.
Despite Tuesday’s gains, the three major indexes are down about 9% from levels seen before the reciprocal tariff announcement on April 2. Worries that the aggressive U.S. tariffs could spur inflation and hamper global growth have led to greater pricing of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Traders see more than 90 basis points of easing by the December, implying three fully priced in 25-bps cuts and a 60% chance of a fourth such a reduction, according to LSEG data.
Among other big movers, Health insurer UnitedHealth Group and Humana jumped 7.1% and 11.2%, respectively, after the U.S. announced 5.06% increase in payment rates to private insurers for 2026 Medicare Advantage health plans. Quarterly earnings season will kick-off later this week, with JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo set to report on Friday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and six new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 14 new highs and 95 new lows.
