India, April 9 -- Following the nosedive seen over the past several sessions, stocks showed an astonishingly strong move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The major averages all moved sharply higher, posting their biggest one-day gains in years.

The major averages saw continued strength late in the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq soared 1,857.06 or 12.2 percent to 17,124.97, the S&P 500 spiked by 474.13 points or 9.5 percent to 5,456.90 and the Dow surged 2,962.86 points or 7.9 percent to 40,608.45.

Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the day but skyrocketed after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new "reciprocal tariffs" on most countries to allow for negotiations.

White House pr...