Walmart, Nike, Lululemon Lead Retail Sector Gains After Trump's Tariff Pause: Stocktwits Users Proceed With Caution

Retail stocks rose sharply on Wednesday after President Donald Trump paused additional tariffs on several countries that had come forward to negotiate trade deals with the U.S. over the past week.

Trump's about-face relieved stocks across industries, particularly retailers like Nike, Inc. (NKE), Levi's (LEVI), and Walmart, Inc. (WMT), which rely on manufacturing and sourcing from Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh.

The expectation is that they would not have to rearrange their supply chains as significantly as previously thought, which would keep their products' costs and consumer prices steady.

Walmart shares gained 9.6%, their best session in five years, while Nike stock rose 11.4%, its biggest single-day gain in over two years.

Big-box retailer Best Buy (BBY), which some analysts had said would be the worst hit from the new tariffs, gained 13.3%.

Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI) rose 20.2%, while Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU) gained 10.6%.

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies Colgate Palmolive Ltd (COLPAL) and Procter & Gamble Co (PG), which have some manufacturing operations in Mexico, gained 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively.

The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index (XLY) posted its largest daily gain since 2008.

According to the latest, countries that were hit with higher tariffs, announced last week and went into effect Wednesday, will now be taxed at a baseline rate of 10% for 90 days.

Duties on Chinese imports were, in fact, raised to 125%.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for consumer discretionary companies remained 'bearish', while that for consumer staple firms went from 'bullish' to 'neutral'.

A user said Nike, as well as Target Corp and AMD were "massively cheap" at current levels, and offer potential upsides.

"What foes up must come down," a user said regarding Best Buy.

Meanwhile, Walmart maintained its full-year sales and profit outlook at an investor event on Wednesday, boosting confidence and aiding the company's shares.

Including Wednesday's gains, NKE shares are down 21.6% year to date, WMT 0.8% and BBY 25.8%.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<