S&P 500 · May 12, 2025

The day Washington and Beijing cut tariffs

+3.26%

single-day change vs previous close

Part of a longer stretch

The tariff-pause rally

midway through · 2025-04-08 → 2025-06-27, +23.89% over the whole period

What happened that day?

12 May 2025 — the S&P 500 rose 3.26%
Over the weekend the US and China met in Switzerland and agreed to cut tariffs on each other sharply for 90 days
April's tariff pause had left China out. This deal filled the biggest remaining hole
The rate mattered less than whether there was anyone to negotiate with. Once talks start, the worst case is off the table
The Nasdaq rose more the same day. The S&P 500 carries more sectors untouched by tariffs, so it moved less
From the February high to the 8 April low the index fell 18.90%
The advance that continued from here carried the index back to its February high on 27 June

Sources

Every figure on this page is recomputed from the original daily closing prices and checked against them at build time. The account of what happened is put together from the public record; where a specific source was consulted it is listed above.