In an unprecedented market event, Wall Street witnessed the most dramatic 30-minute swing in market capitalization in U.S. stock market history—all triggered by a single headline.
At 10:10 AM ET, whispers began circulating that the White House was considering a “90-day tariff pause”. Just five minutes later, CNBC broke the story, reporting that President Donald Trump was exploring a pause on tariffs for all countries—except China.
The markets responded instantly. By 10:18 AM ET, in just eight minutes, the S&P 500 surged, adding over $3 trillion in market cap from its earlier lows. Traders, algorithms, and institutional investors jumped in, reacting to what seemed to be a dramatic policy shift in the ongoing trade tensions.
But the euphoria didn’t last.
At 10:25 AM ET, reports emerged suggesting that the White House was unaware of any such plan by President Trump. Just one minute later, CNBC issued a correction, stating that the headlines about a 90-day tariff pause were incorrect. The final nail in the coffin came at 10:34 AM ET, when the White House officially labeled the news “fake”.
The market’s reaction was just as swift in the other direction. By 10:40 AM ET, a staggering $2.5 trillion in market cap had been wiped out, nearly erasing all earlier gains.
This whiplash—sparked by a rumor attributed to White House advisor Kevin Hassett—resulted in a $6 trillion swing in total S&P 500 market cap within half an hour. Analysts and market veterans alike have been left speechless, many calling it the largest and fastest capital movement in modern financial history.
It serves as a stark reminder of how fragile market sentiment has become in the age of instant information—and misinformation.
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