Wall Street kicked off Thursday with strong momentum, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 200 points in early trading, building on gains from the previous session. The rally was largely driven by tech stocks, which got a boost after President Donald Trump announced exemptions on chip tariffs but only for companies investing in U.S. manufacturing.
By the closing bell, the Dow settled with a gain of 81 points, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2%. All three major indexes are now edging close to record highs, shrugging off the recent August 1 sell-off.
Tech Leads the Charge
The market’s optimism was fueled by Trump’s Wednesday statement, in which he revealed a 100% tariff on imported chips would not apply to companies “building in the United States.” That news lit a fire under semiconductor stocks:
- Nvidia rose 2%
- AMD jumped 3%
- Apple gained 2% after reaffirming its commitment to invest another $100 billion into the U.S. economy—bringing its total projected American investment to $600 billion over the next four years.
Despite ongoing concerns around trade tensions, investors appear to be looking past the noise, with renewed focus on interest rates, corporate earnings, and the broader global recovery.
Crypto Joins the Rebound
It wasn’t just stocks enjoying the lift. Bitcoin also saw a solid uptick, climbing 2% in the last 24 hours to trade above $116,000. The flagship cryptocurrency seemed to mirror the equity market’s positive mood as it bounced back alongside traditional risk assets.
A New Tariff Era
Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs officially came into play, targeting countries like Brazil, India, and Switzerland with duties as high as 50%. However, new trade deals with Japan, South Korea, and the European Union have set a more moderate 15% tariff for those regions.
On Truth Social, Trump claimed the U.S. was raking in “billions of dollars in tariffs” as the trade deadline kicked in.
While the full impact of these sweeping tariffs is yet to be seen, Thursday’s trading action suggests that for now, markets are choosing to focus on the silver linings especially when they benefit American industry.
