After weeks of pain, the stock market on Wednesday enjoyed some relief from tariffs and fears about Donald Trump's encroachment on the Federal Reserve.

US stocks jumped as much as 3% on Wednesday after comments from Trump helped ease two major headwinds for the stock market: steep tariffs on China and the early termination of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The gains were cut in half to about 1.5% as trading progressed on Wednesday, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the US has not made a unilateral offer to China to lower tariffs.

Bessent answered "not at all" when asked if the president had unilaterally offered to de-escalate trading tensions with China.

But Bessent still sees tariffs against Chinese imports moving lower.

"As I've said many times, I don't think either side believes that the current tariff levels are sustainable, so I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way," Bessent said.

Here's where major indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. ET closing bell:

The rally midweek adds to Tuesday's gain, which saw the Dow rise nearly 1,000 points while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were up over 2%.

Other assets that had been hit by the "sell America" trade in recent days also rose. The moves on Wednesday include:

Trump says he won't fire Jerome Powell

After the market close on Tuesday, Trump said he has "no intention" of firing Powell before his term ends in May 2026.

"I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates," the president added. "This is a perfect time to lower interest rates."

Trump criticized Powell in a string of posts on Truth Social over the past week, arguing that the Fed Chairman should be cutting interest rates now, that he is a "major loser", and that his "termination cannot come fast enough."

Last Friday, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said that the President and his team "continue to study" the legality of firing Powell before his term ends.