Stocks unleash remarkable comeback after a historic dive from Trump's tariffs

In the week following President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement, it looked like the stock market had seen a ghost.

In the week following President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement, it looked like the stock market had seen a ghost.

Over the course of seven days following his April 2 announcement, the S&P 500 lost more than 12%, a decline not typically seen outside of extreme events like the Covid-19 pandemic and the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. That stretch last month also saw the fifth-worst two-day percentage decline since World War II.

Government bond yields, too, began to creep steadily upward, making it more expensive for the U.S. to borrow money, amid signs that both the substance and erratic rollout of Trump’s tariff plan were testing traders’ faith in the United States’ ability to make timely payments on its debt.

Stocks around the world sold off, too.

“April was an absolutely seismic month in financial markets, as the announcement of US reciprocal tariffs led to a huge global sell-off,” analysts with Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients Thursday. “The initial moves were truly historic in their speed.”