U.S. stock futures edged higher on Wednesday evening following President Donald Trump‘s unexpected 90-day reprieve on reciprocal tariffs that triggered Wall Street’s strongest rally since 2008.
What Happened: S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% to 5,488.00, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 280 points, or about 0.7%, to 40,966.00. Nasdaq-100 futures traded up 0.2% to 19,203.50.
In global markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 8.29% on Thursday morning. Oil prices declined with WTI crude falling 0.79% to $61.86 per barrel, while gold inched up 0.21% to above $3,090 per ounce amid ongoing trade tensions.
The Dollar Index fell 0.23 points, or 0.22%, to 102.67.
The major indexes posted historic gains Wednesday, with the S&P 500 tracked by SPDR S&P 500 SPY surging 9.52% and the Nasdaq 100 tracked by Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ rocketing 12.2% — both marking their strongest one-day gains since October 2008. The Magnificent Seven tech stocks collectively added $1.85 trillion in market capitalization.
Gene Munster, Managing Partner at Deepwater Asset Management, cautioned that despite the market rally, "we're not out of the woods yet," as Trump's effort to "right-size China… will take time and involve some negative headlines." Still, he sees potential for a resolution within three months and believes "revenue and earnings should improve in the back half of the year."
On a longer horizon, Munster said, "The substance of AI will exceed the hype," predicting 2–3 more years of an AI-fueled bull market before a potential bubble burst.
Why It Matters: The pause comes after Trump’s administration implemented sweeping tariffs that briefly went into effect before the announcement. Trump said the reprieve applies immediately to non-retaliating countries, while China faces steeper 125% tariffs due to “lack of respect” for global markets.
“This was the news we and everyone on the Street was waiting for,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said, noting the announcement “pulls stocks and the market from the edge of the cliff.”
Goldman Sachs quickly scrapped its recession forecast following the announcement, reverting to a non-recession baseline with projected GDP growth of 0.5% for 2025 and a 45% recession probability.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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