President Donald Trump's major flip-flop on his aggressive tariff plan had global markets rallying on Wednesday.

But analysts warned investors to look out for a "dead cat bounce," a term signifying a brief rebound during a moment of free fall or uncertainty.

They were right to be skeptical. While Trump announced a 90-day pause of his aggressive so-called "reciprocal " tariffs, the administration still implemented a blanket ten percent tariff and maintained a steep 125 percent tax on Chinese goods.

In other words, investors may no longer fear the worst-case scenario — but that doesn't mean the tariff war has magically ended.

Today, Trump dug in his heels, escalating the US-China trade war by raising tariffs on the country from 125 to at least 145 percent, sending markets reeling once again.

Even before the latest announcement, tech stocks were still looking quite rocky, with experts suggesting that market turbulence will continue. Even the European Union's announcement that it would pause retaliatory tariffs couldn't keep up yesterday's momentum.

The S&P 500 has slid by nearly five percent so far on Thursday, following one of the biggest single-day rallies of the stock market in history the day prior.

For a perfect example of a company feeling the hurt, look at Elon Musk's Tesla, the stock of which fell by more than 11 percent on Thursday, returning to levels at the beginning of the month, right before Trump announced his so-called "reciprocal" tariffs. AI chip maker Nvidia also wiped out much of its Wednesday rally, dropping more than seven percent today.

Apple, which has been crushed by Trump's tariff war, also experienced major volatility over the past three days and is down more than six percent today alone.

Amazon also slid by more than six percent today, bringing Wednesday's rally to a screeching halt.

Overall, stocks of big tech companies have largely resumed their steady decline since the beginning of the year, around the time Trump was inaugurated.

On Monday, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described Trump's tariff escalation an "economic Armageddon."

"I believe this is the scariest time that I've seen in the markets, specifically for US tech," he told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Ives cut his price target on Microsoft on Thursday, citing concerns over US tariffs on China making tech companies' projects far more expensive.

In many ways, the damage has already been done, with the European Union and China indicating they're actively looking for less volatile and unpredictable trading partners than the US.

Chinese officials announced on Thursday that they were still willing to de-escalate Trump's trade war, despite the administration's abrasive and downright offensive rhetoric.

"China's position is clear and consistent: the door to talks is open, but dialogue must be conducted on an equal basis with mutual respect," said Commerce Ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian, as quoted by CBS News. "China will stand by its position until the end. Pressuring, threatening, and blackmailing are not the correct ways to deal with China."

Meanwhile, Democrat lawmakers have accused the Trump administration of enriching themselves through market manipulation. Senator Adam Schiff called on Congress to investigate whether Trump had engaged in insider trading.

"THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post minutes after markets opened Wednesday, specifically shouting out the ticker of his Truth Social meme stock, DJT.

However, shares of Truth Social owner Trump Media have since wiped out much of Wednesday's gains, dropping over seven percent today.

More on the tech sector: Tech CEOs Bent Over Backwards for Trump and Their "Reward" Has Been Horrible


Share This Article