Wednesday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures etched itself into history, kicking off rocky but closing with a thunderous bang. 

Overnight, bears mostly ruled, though bulls clung to support above Monday’s low of 4832, bottoming at 4871.75 in early morning trading. Before the opening bell, premarket swings had both sides tasting red and green. Once the regular session hit, bulls refused to surrender the opening print near 4980, bolstered minutes later by Trump’s X post: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.”

Afternoon trading saw bulls probing new daily highs, but the real fireworks ignited when Trump announced a 90-day tariff pause for most countries (notably, no pause for China), effective immediately. The index futures rocketed to the 5300’s in a blink, with profit-takers briefly tempering the surge. Buying pressure stayed fierce, and the final hour brought an unrelenting bid, smashing new highs with a peak of 5520. 

The session wrapped up near that top at 5491, soaring an epic 470.75 handles, now back to last Thursday’s turf, with that April 3 high looming at 5564.75. Market participants can now  look forward to March’s CPI report at 8:30 AM ET on Thursday, plus a barrage of Fedspeak all day. The question remains, will data trump tariff headlines?

Among the index’s top components, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) snagged the biggest win, surging $50.34, or a jaw-dropping 22.69%, to close at $272.20. 

That outpaced the cash index’s stunning 9.52% leap by over two times. 

No top components escaped the tariff-pause rally, leaving Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) as the smallest gainer, up $27.47, or 3.78%, to close at $753.71.