US STOCKS-Wall St rallies after sharp losses on hopes of tariff talks

By Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal

April 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes on Tuesday recouped some of the heavy losses clocked since last week as technology and financials led the gains on expectations that the U.S. would open up for negotiations on its aggressive tariffs.

Big Tech rebounded, with Nvidia NVDA.O jumping 5.6% and Microsoft MSFT.O adding 3%. The information technology sub-index .SPLRCT advanced 3.6%, leading gains among the 11 major sub-sectors.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he discussed tariffs, among others, in a "great" call with acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview to CNBC that tariff negotiations are the result of calls from other countries, not sliding financial markets, and China's escalation is a big mistake.

China said it will never accept the "blackmail nature" of the U.S. to Trump's threat to ratchet up tariffs on Chinese imports to more than 100%.

"When the perception is that markets are in a deep selloff that creates headlines and is frightening to investors, there comes a time when you get a relief rally," said Andre Bakhos, managing member at Ingenium Analytics LLC.

At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 904.04 points, or 2.37%, to 38,866.93, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 119.47 points, or 2.36%, to 5,180.43 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 404.55 points, or 2.60%, to 16,007.81.

Stocks, however, lost some ground after United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said exemptions to the global tariffs are not expected in the near term.

The S&P 500 and the Dow are set for their biggest single-day gain since November, if gains hold. Financials were among the big gainers, with lender JPMorgan Chase JPM.N rising 4.5% and the banks sub-index .SPXBK rising 3.3%.

The CBOE Volatility index .VIX - seen as Wall Street's 'fear gauge' - retreated to 40.36 points after rising on Monday to its highest level since August last year.

Despite Tuesday's gains, the three major indexes are down about 9% from levels seen before the reciprocal tariff announcement on April 2.

Worries that the aggressive U.S. tariffs could spur inflation and hamper global growth have led to greater pricing of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Traders see more than 90 basis points of easing by the December, implying three fully priced in 25-bps cuts and a 60% chance of a fourth such a reduction, according to LSEG data.

Among other big movers, Health insurer UnitedHealth Group UNH.N and Humana HUM.N jumped 7.1% and 11.2%, respectively, after the U.S. announced 5.06% increase in payment rates to private insurers for 2026 Medicare Advantage health plans.

Quarterly earnings season will kick-off later this week, with JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley MS.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N set to report on Friday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and six new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 14 new highs and 95 new lows.