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How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday 4/1/2026

Stocks rushed higher worldwide, and oil prices eased as hopes built that the war with Iran could end soon. That’s even though some of the signals investors saw as hopeful on Wednesday are already under dispute.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and added to its leap from the day before, which was its best since last spring. That followed even bigger gains for markets across Europe and Asia, including an 8.4% surge in South Korea, which were catching up to Wall Street’s rally from Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2%.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 rose 46.80 points, or 0.7%, to 6,575.32.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 224.23 points, or 0.5%, to 46,565.74.

The Nasdaq composite rose 250.32 points, or 1.2%, to 21,840.95.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 15.99 points, or 0.6% to 2,512.37.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 206.47 points, or 3.2%.

The Dow is up 1,399.10 points, or 3.1%.

The Nasdaq is up 892.59 points, or 4.3%.

The Russell 2000 is up 62.67 points, or 2.6%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is down 270.18 points, or 3.9%.

The Dow is down 1,497.55 points, or 3.1%.

The Nasdaq is down 1,401.04 points, or 6%.

The Russell 2000 is up 30.46 points, or 1.2%.

Trump says he’ll place 25% tariff on autos from the EU, accusing it of not complying with trade deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment. Trump said in a social media post that the EU “is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal,” though he did not flesh out his objections in the post. Asked by reporters on Friday about the increase in import taxes as he departed the White House for Florida, Trump said the EU was not “as usual” adhering to last year's trade framework, without detailing the source of the tension. He added that he believed the shift to higher tariffs “forces them to move their factory production much faster” to the U.S. Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed to the trade deal last July. It set a tariff ceiling of 15% on most goods, though the Supreme Court this year ruled against the legal authority that Trump had used to charge that tax. This left Trump looking for substitute authorities, and his administration has imposed a 10% tax while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
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