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After a week of bloodshed, Wall Street made a historic comeback, experiencing one of its biggest one-day rallies in many years as President Trump halted the biggest tariff hikes on trading partners for 90 days. The S&P 500 had its best day since 2008, skyrocketing 9.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq enjoyed its second-largest one-day rally on record, surging 12.1%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Index gained 7.9%, marking its highest rally since 2008.

This led to a spike in leveraged ETFs as investors looked to register big gains in a short span. Per Bloomberg, these ETFs were on a historic $30 billion buying spree as retail speculators scooped up shares amid the tariff-fueled sell-off. This marked the biggest such buying wave on record. 

We have highlighted a bunch of the best-performing leveraged ETFs from different corners of the market that piled up heavy gains yesterday. These include Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares (SOXL - Free Report), MicroSectors Travel 3x Leveraged ETN (FLYU - Free Report) , Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares (HIBL - Free Report) , MicroSectors Solactive FANG & Innovation 3X Leveraged ETN (BULZ - Free Report) and MAX S&P 500 4X Leveraged ETN (SPYU - Free Report) . 

These funds seek to register big gains in a short span and will continue their strong trend, at least in the near term, provided the sentiments remain bullish. Leveraged ETFs provide multiple exposures (2X or 3X) to the daily performance of the underlying index. These funds employ various investment strategies, such as swaps, futures contracts and other derivative instruments, to accomplish their objectives.

What Prompted the Rally?

The massive rally was due to a wave of buying after Trump paused the implementation of reciprocal tariffs for 90 days for many countries, except China. The suspension of tariffs aims to ease escalating trade tensions and their adverse economic impact and was in response to widespread concerns from international partners and domestic industries about the negative consequences of the tariffs. However, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% from 104%, effective immediately. 

Investor sentiment was buoyed by the prospect of reduced trade barriers, which alleviated fears of a prolonged trade war and its potential to hinder global economic growth. The tariff pause was perceived as a positive step toward more stable international trade relations, encouraging market participants to re-enter equities with renewed confidence.

Broad-Based Rally

The gains were broad-based, with almost all the sectors showing strength. Travel and leisure companies such as United Airlines (UAL) and Expedia saw their share prices surge by as much as 26%. The anticipated reduction in operational costs and improved international travel prospects contributed to this uptick. 

Magnificent Seven stocks, which bore the brunt of the sell-offs, were among the biggest gainers. Tesla (TSLA) skyrocketed 22.6%, while NVIDIA (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) surged 18.6% and 15.3%, respectively. Amazon (AMZN) rose 12%, while Meta Platforms (META) jumped 15%. Other technology stocks like Arm Holdings (ARM) advanced 24% and Broadcom (AVGO) gained 19%.

Leveraged ETFs That Soared

Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares (SOXL) – Up 54.8%

With AUM of $6.7 billion, Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares targets the semiconductor corner of the technology sector with three times leveraged exposure to the NYSE Semiconductor Index. It charges 72 bps in fees per year and trades in an average daily volume of 177.6 million shares.

MicroSectors Travel 3x Leveraged ETN (FLYU) – Up 45.6%

MicroSectors Travel 3x Leveraged ETN offers three times exposure to the performance of the MerQube MicroSectors U.S. Travel Index. It has accumulated $3.7 million in its asset base and charges 95 bps in annual fees. MicroSectors Travel 3x Leveraged ETN trades in a paltry volume of 3,000 shares per day, on average 

Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares (HIBL) – Up 43.2%

Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares offers three times exposure to the performance of the S&P 500 High Beta Index. The index selects 100 securities from the S&P 500 Index that have the highest sensitivity to market movements, or “beta,” over the past 12 months. Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares has garnered $32.2 million in its asset base and trades in an average daily volume of 259,000 shares. The fund charges 95 bps in fees per year from its investors.

MicroSectors Solactive FANG & Innovation 3X Leveraged ETN (BULZ) – Up 43%

MicroSectors Solactive FANG & Innovation 3X Leveraged ETN seeks three times leverage exposure to the performance of the Solactive FANG Innovation Index, which includes 15 highly liquid stocks focused on building tomorrow’s technology today. It has an AUM of $601.8 million and charges 95 bps in annual fees. MicroSectors Solactive FANG & Innovation 3X Leveraged ETN trades in a volume of 260,000 shares a day on average. 

MAX S&P 500 4X Leveraged ETN (SPYU) – Up 37.2%

MAX S&P 500 4X Leveraged ETN is linked to four times leveraged participation in the daily performance of the S&P 500 Total Return Index. It charges 95 bps in annual fees and has amassed $132.6 million in its asset base. SPYU trades in average daily volume of 1.7 million shares.

Bottom Line

As a caveat, investors should note that these products are extremely volatile and suitable only for short-term traders. Additionally, the daily rebalancing, when combined with leverage, may make these products deviate significantly from the expected long-term performance figures.

Yet, for ETF investors bullish on these sectors in the near term, any of the above-mentioned products can be an interesting choice. A near-term long could be intriguing for those with high risk tolerance and a belief that the trend is a friend in this corner of the investing world.

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