Trump Talks Tariffs, Tech Stocks Gain As QQQ Leads The Charge

The Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ, which follows the Nasdaq 100 Index, jumped 1.2% Thursday as a combination of political and economic events lifted investor mood and stoked interest in megacap tech stocks again. The Nasdaq 100 rose by almost 2%, supporting QQQ in beating broad-market peers on a day characterized by increased demand for risk assets.

QQQ Vs. ONEQ

The Invesco QQQ ETF continues to be a popular vehicle for those looking for concentrated exposure to the largest growth and non-financial technology stocks in the U.S., such as heavyweights Apple AAPL, Microsoft MSFT, and Nvidia NVDA. Famous for its tech-heavy bias and high liquidity, QQQ tends to rise with market enthusiasm around innovation, deregulation and macroeconomic catalysts.

A similar fund, the Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index ETF ONEQ, provides more coverage by tracking the entire Nasdaq Composite Index, including more than 3,000 stocks of a wider group of sectors and market caps. While QQQ tends to be more volatile because of its concentration on megacap tech, ONEQ, which also rose more than 1% on Thursday, provides more diversified exposure, possibly ironing out performance through sector-specific dips. Both ETFs gauge investor attitudes toward growth and technology, but QQQ is still the more aggressive bet for investors betting large on the tech industry’s upside.

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What Drove QQQ Today?

A focal point in Thursday’s upsurge was the declaration of the U.S.-U.K. trade agreement, which, while symbolic in parts, signaled markets that geopolitical relationships could be stabilizing. The agreement includes lowering tariffs on vehicles produced in the UK and British counter purchases of U.S. products, including Boeing BA planes. Although important tariff levels, in particular a 10% across-the-board levy, are untouched, investors saw the news as a move in the direction of wider global coordination.

Moreover, the impending talks with China scheduled for May 10 are also keeping hopes up.

Meanwhile, markets cheered initially on news the Trump administration would roll back Biden-era restrictions on AI chip exports. The likelihood of a rollback sent semiconductor shares, such as Nvidia, AMD AMD and Broadcom AVGO, showing afternoon gains of over 1%. Because the Nasdaq-100 index is heavily invested in the semiconductor space, QQQ directly took advantage of the rally. The hope of reduced AI chip sales restrictions eased concerns over a deceleration in global semiconductor demand, one of the index’s major growth pillars.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell moderated some of the euphoria with a warning note, cautioning that an imbalanced tariff policy could increase inflationary pressures and drag on economic growth. Nevertheless, risk-on sentiment dominated after Trump’s declaration that the U.S. economy is ready for “the biggest tax cuts in history” and his firm urging investors to “go out and buy stock.”

Alphabet GOOGL, another QQQ heavyweight, gained 2% after the company addressed fears of waning search queries on Apple platforms—a clarification that regained some lost ground in the previous session’s 7% decline.

These advances combined renewed faith in U.S. technology stocks and validated the QQQ ETF’s role as a barometer of optimism in the market for innovation, deregulation, and growth-oriented policy realignments. Amidst investors scrutinizing headlines that spanned from geopolitics to generative AI, QQQ became an investors’ go-to vehicle for beta exposure in a tech-fueled bounce-back — cementing its place not only as a passive index fund tracker but also as a sentiment litmus test for the direction of U.S. innovation.

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