In a dramatic twist that’s sent shockwaves through global financial markets, former President Donald Trump has as of late stopped on all tariff actions for 90 days — with one big exception: China.
The decision, delivered in typical Trumpian flair, has ignited a wave of optimism among investors and traders who were growing weary of relentless trade uncertainty.
After the announcement, the U.S. and crypto markets rebounded sharply, taking back the direction they had been heading in for the past week—one filled with confusion, misinformation, and sell-off panic that had so many investors deciding to divest. On the day of the announcement, Bitcoin’s price leapt to $82,600, Ethereum’s value jumped to $1,650, the S&P 500 stock index surged 8.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw a stunning one-day surge of 10%.
🇺🇸📈 BREAKING: Donald Trump has just announced a 90-day pause on all tariffs, with the exception of China. This has resulted in immediate gains for cryptocurrencies and stock markets as traders FOMO back into markets.
This positive news (albeit a temporary alleviation to a still… pic.twitter.com/zOWbDZflml
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 9, 2025
The shift, although it is transitory and affects just a select few, has been enough to bring bullish sentiment back into a market that has become highly reactive—if not downright jumpy—to anything related to the trade war.
From False Alarms to FOMO
Today’s market activity couldn’t be any more different from what we saw just 48 hours ago. On Monday, traders were sent scrambling by a misreported story that was doing the rounds. It had us believing we were on the verge of a tariff pause — something we’ve all been waiting for. Of course, the story turned out to be wrong, and when traders realized we were still on the verge of tariff hell instead, prices corrected right back to where they’d been just before the rumor broke. Adding insult to injury, Tuesday then hit us with the news that we were slapping China with a new massive 104% tariff hike. Ouch!
The present, definitively declared notification has altered the atmosphere, albeit for now. The primary distinction? At last, the cessation is endorsed—applying to all countries save China. Yet this exempting of China hardly resolves the wider issue of global trade turbulence. Still, it is more than enough to set can’t-sit-still investors, who have been abiding in sidelined status, in a FOMO frenzy.
And signal it did. The markets wasted no time in pricing in the optimistic signals. Bitcoin, which had taken a beating during the false start earlier in the week, rebounded swiftly, now bolstered by a surge in risk appetite and a renewed narrative that it is a potential inflation hedge. Ethereum followed, although its gains were more muted, reflecting a continued divide in confidence between the top two cryptocurrencies.
In the stock market, the rally was even more marked. The S&P 500 had its best single-day gain in recent memory, rising 8.1% as big investors and individual traders piled in. The Nasdaq, always more reactive to shifts in economic policy, leaped even more at 10%, as tech companies continued to benefit from the renewed hope of a somewhat improved global trade situation—not that anyone’s counting on it in the long term.
Caution Beneath the Euphoria
Even with all the excitement, market fundamentals are still as unclear as ever. A 90-day tariff truce is still just a truce. It doesn’t repair the harm done over years of back-and-forth trade battles, and with China still the main target, the largest and most prolonged uncertainty remains utterly unresolved.
One trader observed, “Lately, the market compass has been greed and fear, and the crowd has been most accurate at indicating where the market is heading. And this bounce we’re seeing? It’s really about sentiment — not substance.”
Traders who bought the dip in the past week, especially after Tuesday’s tariff shock, have received handsome rewards. But that could change just as quickly if the story shifts again — something that has become all too common in today’s markets, which seem more directed by emotional whiplash than by any grounded assessment of fundamentals. Indeed, the current market climate feels more like a narrative-driven soap opera.
At present, the signal is clear: the market is very sensitive to news about tariffs, whether it is real news or just rumors. In these times of heightened volatility, even a short-term delay can set off a big market reaction. But just as easily, a single tweet or casual comment could send the market back down.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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