Dow climbs 300 points as stocks extend rally after Trump signals more tariff relief is possible

Stocks continued to rally Monday as President Donald Trump hinted at more tariff relief ahead, following his Friday night exemption of electronic devices.

The Dow Jones industrial average increased 312 points, or 0.78%, the S&P 500 added 0.79%, and the Nasdaq picked up 0.64%. All the indexes closed well below their intraday highs but added to Friday’s market rally.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell 11.3 basis points to 4.38%, the U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.38% to 99.73, and gold prices slipped 0.52% to $3,227.50 per ounce.

Investors initially cheered U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance issued late Friday that exempted electronic devices from reciprocal duties, though the reprieve will be temporary with new tariffs to follow.

Still, Apple gained 2% Monday, and its market cap rallied back above $3 trillion, as its China-made iPhones will not face a prohibitively high tariff, for now.

Additionally, Nvidia turned negative and closed down 0.2% after announcing a $500 billion investment to manufacture AI supercomputers in the U.S. for the first time.

Automakers’ shares rose in the afternoon after Trump said he’s looking into offering car companies relief so they can change their supply chains.

“I’m looking for something to help some of the car companies, where they’re switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico, and other places, and they need a little bit of time, because they’re going to make them here,” he said in the Oval Office. “But they need a little bit of time, so I’m talking about things like that.”

On April 3, Trump imposed a 25% automotive tariff on imported vehicles and parts; those have remained in place despite Trump offering a reprieve to some of his so-called Liberation Day tariffs last week.

Following Trump’s comments, Stellantis stock jumped 5.7%, Ford Motor rose 4%, General Motors added 3%, and Rivian gained 5%. Tesla shares fell 0.1%.

As Trump pulled back on his “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days to bring countries to the negotiating table, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Monday that more than 10 countries have made “very good, amazing” trade offers to the United States.

Additionally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly prioritizing the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, and Japan to strike a new trade deal, according to the Wall Street Journal .

OK