Wall Street soared today as news of a temporary tariff truce between the United States and China lifted investor sentiment and fueled a strong rally across the major equity indexes.
The S&P 500 surged to its highest level since early March, closing at 5,844 — a gain of over 3%, while the Nasdaq shot up more than 4%, finishing at 18,708. The Dow also rallied, marking the strongest one-day gains for all three major indexes since April 9.
This market optimism followed a joint announcement earlier today that Washington and Beijing would scale back steep tariffs for 90 days — a move seen as a potential step toward easing the global trade tensions that began last month when President Trump first announced sweeping tariffs.
Under the deal, the U.S. will slash tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% down to 30%, while China will cut its duties on American goods from 125% to 10%.
Analysts described today’s surge as a ‘relief rally.’ John Praveen of Paleo Leon called it a sign that the world’s two biggest economies are trying to avoid the most damaging outcomes of a trade war. Meanwhile, SWBC’s Chris Brigati noted the market is celebrating the truce for now, but warned that long-term uncertainties remain.
The broader market also benefited from falling volatility. The CBOE Volatility Index — often referred to as Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ — dropped below 20 for the first time since March, after spiking as high as 60 during April’s tariff turmoil.
In commodities, gold — a traditional safe-haven asset — fell sharply, down about 2.6% as investors shifted toward riskier assets. Among sectors, technology and consumer discretionary stocks led the way. Tech was up nearly 5%, powered by a 6% jump in Apple shares following reports the company may raise prices on its upcoming iPhone lineup. Consumer discretionary gained over 5.5%.
The lone sector to finish in the red was utilities, slipping just under 1% as traders moved away from defensive holdings. And in corporate news, NRG Energy made headlines with a 26% surge after it announced a $12 billion acquisition deal with LS Power, pushing the stock to the top of the S&P 500 leaderboard.
Meanwhile, all eyes are turning to the Federal Reserve this week, with Chair Jerome Powell and other officials scheduled to speak. Traders now anticipate two interest rate cuts by the end of 2025, with the first likely to come in September.
In terms of market breadth, advancers dominated on both the NYSE and Nasdaq, with nearly three stocks rising for every one that fell. Trading volume was also robust, with over 20 billion shares changing hands — well above the recent average.
With earnings season winding down, all attention now shifts to macroeconomic signals and key corporate results still to come — including Walmart, which reports later this week.
Reporting by Katy Moore.
