Investors welcomed a tariff rollback for the tech industry, alongside news of a potential pause on tariffs for some automakers.

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite all rose more than 0.5%. The S&P was up 0.8%, while the Dow added 312 points.

Smartphones, computers, memory chips and several other categories of products will be exempt from sweeping tariffs imposed earlier this month, a filing showed late Friday. That amounts to a big reprieve for Apple and others that make many items in China.

The news boosted some tech stocks, including hardware companies such as Apple and Dell, and chip stocks like Micron.

The president also said Monday afternoon that he is looking at some tariff pauses to help car companies. Shares of automakers like Ford and General Motors perked up on the news.

The Trump administration has sent some mixed signals on the tech tariff changes: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned Sunday that many tech products will still face separate levies in a month or two as part of an investigation into semiconductors under Section 232 trade law.

And President Trump stressed in a social-media post Sunday that "NOBODY is getting 'off the hook'" on tariffs and that levies on tech products are simply moving to a different bucket.

"We have the potential for these exemptions to be rolled back at any moment," said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist for Baird Private Wealth Management. "If you're a business operator, you can't really have any faith that there's going to be any stickiness or a long-lasting policy in place here."

Tech gains powered global markets higher earlier Monday, with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea both adding roughly 1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2.4%. Major European indexes also climbed.

Nvidia announced Monday that it will make supercomputers that power artificial intelligence entirely in the U.S. The company says it will be the first time AI supercomputers are completely built domestically.

After its biggest weekly pullback since late 2022, the dollar remained under pressure Monday. Benchmark Treasury yields declined, after notching their largest one-week gain since 2001.

Economists have cut their outlook, a Wall Street Journal survey found. The survey, conducted after Trump's April 2 unveiling of shock-and-awe tariffs sent markets on a roller-coaster ride, showed economists now see a 45% chance of recession ahead, roughly double the risk they saw in January. Likewise, hedge-fund founder Ray Dalio said the economy is flirting with contraction.

Meanwhile, Chinese exports surged last month, in what is likely a last hurrah before U.S. tariffs kick in. Chinese leader Xi Jinping began a Southeast Asia trip Monday to shore up relations with some of China's closest trading partners.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 14, 2025 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)

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