The big stock rally’s biggest winners winners

The stock market seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief after President Donald Trump issued an unexpected 90-day pause on almost all tariffs Wednesday afternoon. This move sent markets rallying after days of losses and volatility.

The Dow surged over 2,900 points, and the S&P 500 enjoyed its largest rally since 2008.

Among the winners were airline stocks, which had been taking a bit of a beating lately as consumer confidence sagged and travel plans were put on hold. United Airlines (UAL+26.10%) led the way, soaring 28%. Delta Air Lines (DAL+23.19%) wasn’t far behind, popping 25%. JetBlue (JBLU+19.17%) found its wings, too, going up almost 20%.

But airlines weren’t the only winners today.

Elon Musk rode Tesla’s (TSLA+21.35%) shares up 22% as his company ranked among the day’s stock stars. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led its biggest rally since 2001, with Apple (AAPL+15.02%) leading the charge, going up 15%. Microchip Technology (MCHP+25.13%) and MicroStrategy (MSTR+26.12%) led the rally among the chip stocks — both were up almost 25% in value.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said putting the brakes on the tariffs was always Trump’s plan (a plan Bessent denied a few days ago). “This was his strategy all along,” Bessent said this afternoon at the White House.

Trump said he hit the pause button on most tariffs because people were getting spooked and pulling the market down.

“They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid,” Trump said at the White House.