S&P, Nasdaq post big quarterly percentage drops on Trump tariff turmoil

S&P, Nasdaq post big quarterly percentage drops on Trump tariff turmoil

By David French

Mon March 31, 2025 4:54 PM

Today, rather than getting more assurances from the White House that the tariffs coming this Wednesday would be measured, instead there was the announcement Sunday that they would be widespread and include all nations which caused all the indexes to open down, the Nasdaq way down. The rest of the session was in recovery mode with the S&P and Dow doing better due to more safe haven stocks being available there.  

Wall Street tumbles as fresh data fuels inflation fear

Wall Street tumbles as fresh data fuels inflation fear

By Noel Randewich and Pranav Kashyap

Fri March 28, 2025 4:31 PM

The highly awaited PCE numbers came with a disappointment showing what was feared – inflation up and thus consumer spending down, or to put it more accurately, spending rebounded less than expected. All in all, it just further fueled the fires of fear and uncertainty and, combined with the coming automobile tariffs, sent all three indexes spiraling way down constantly all day, major 3-digit drops all around. The U of M consumer inflation survey showed expectations exploding to a 2-1/2 year high, beating down stalwarts Apple, Microsoft and Amazon from 2.7% to 4.3%. All three indexes were down for the week from 1% to 2.6%. And it gets worse.  

S&P 500 ends lower as investors digest Trump's auto tariffs

S&P 500 ends lower as investors digest Trump's auto tariffs

By Noel Randewich

Thu March 27, 2025 4:20 PM

On this second day, the shock of the automobile tariffs coming April 3^rd and auto parts coming May 3^rd continues to rattle automakers with both GM and Ford down another 7% and 3.9% respectively after yesterday’s big hit. Auto parts makers also took a 5% hit. As today’s expert put it, “Investors are really cautious and wary of Trump and his policies. Even more than the policies, just the constant flip-flopping, making people really nervous about making long-term investments.”  

Wall Street ends down sharply on tariff worries; Nvidia and Tesla drop

Wall Street ends down sharply on tariff worries; Nvidia and Tesla drop

By Noel Randewich

Wed March 26, 2025 4:37 PM

Detroit got bad news today. The market didn’t have to wait until April 2^nd for a hoped-for allay of tariff fears. They got it with both barrels today with Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on all foreign-made autos and auto parts. Since most even domestic autos are made with at least some (and often many) foreign made parts, the entire U.S. auto industry will be impacted which sent all three indexes straight down from the open and staying that way all day, closing again with 3-digit losses.  

US stocks end higher as traders focus on tariffs, data

US stocks end higher as traders focus on tariffs, data

By Noel Randewich

Tue March 25, 2025 4:14 PM

It was a third day of betting on optimism in the hopes that Trump’s April 2^nd tariff announcement will be moderate, but today the price movement was much more erratic with the indexes well up in the morning, then down in the afternoon, the Dow up over a hundred in the a.m., then down over a hundred in the p.m., but all closing near break-even except the Nasdaq that had a more robust day.  

S&P 500 ends sharply higher, Nvidia and Tesla rally

S&P 500 ends sharply higher, Nvidia and Tesla rally

By Noel Randewich

Mon March 24, 2025 4:33 PM

It’s not often that all three indexes enjoy very substantial 3-digit gains, especially from the S&P for which hundred-point daily gains are almost unheard of, but that’s what happened on this the second day that Trump has signaled once again that the April 2^nd tariffs may be more measured than across the board. The indexes were all straight up right out the gate and stayed that way, supported strongly by the return of losses to Nvidia and Tesla due to the new tariff optimism.  

Wall St ends higher, dollar rises as Trump signals tariff respite

Wall St ends higher, dollar rises as Trump signals tariff respite

By Stephen Culp

Fri March 21, 2025 4:46 PM

The day started with the usual morning terrors with all the indexes way down on tariff and other economic fears, the Dow down over 500 points by 10 a.m. But then the market started to climb and continued the climb all day, very likely because of Trump once again giving the hint that he may not be as strict with the April 2^nd tariffs after all. But the consensus remains that the gains would have been stronger except for weakness in the sensitive sectors which are strongly impacted by uncertainty.  

Stocks slip in choppy trade as economic, tariff outlook eyed

Stocks slip in choppy trade as economic, tariff outlook eyed

By Chuck Mikolajczak

Thu March 20, 2025 4:21 PM

All three indexes had a very good morning with the Dow up nearly 300 points by 11 a.m., before all three began sliding after noon and continued to close with modest losses. So the Fed optimism lasted but a day when inflation and uncertainty took the front seat again today.  There’s nothing in the news that points to any near-term exit to this nervousness. As today’s expert put it, “When I survey the near-term news flow, I don’t have a lot of hope that we’re suddenly going to leap out of this.” The job outlook may be dimming due to government spending cuts and policy uncertainty and Q1 prospects are also dimming due to the tariff outlook.  Today’s 13.06 billion shares remains well below the 16.28 4-week average. 

DJ: 41,964.63  +383.32      NAS: 17,750.79  +246.67      S&P: 5,675.29  +60.63         3/19

DJ: 41,953.32  -11.31         NAS: 17,691.63  -59.16         S&P: 5,662.89  -12.40          3/20

Thu 3-20-25 4:21 pm Stocks slip in choppy trade as economic, tariff outlook eyed | Reuters

Wall Street rallies after Fed keeps rates unchanged

Wall Street rallies after Fed keeps rates unchanged

By Chuck Mikolajczak

Wed March 19, 2025 4:23 PM

As the markets more or less got what they wanted from the Fed this afternoon, which was a little more certainty (or less uncertainty), the indexes once again had a good surge, substantial 3-digit gains on both the Dow and Nasdaq, and the S&P had a pretty good day too. The Fed basically restated its previous positions that they expected growth to continue slowing and inflation to continue growing. The good news is that both the contraction in growth and the rise in inflation is forecasted to be moderate and, for this month’s report, both had nudged just a bit. But Powell repeated the complication that it would be difficult to gauge how much Trump’s policies are contributing to inflation and how much is to other long-present factors.  

Wall Street ends lower on tariff worry as Fed decision eyed

Wall Street ends lower on tariff worry as Fed decision eyed

By Chuck Mikolajczak

Tue March 18, 2025 4:23 PM

Yesterday there was a rally that may have been based on optimism over positive news from the Fed coming Wednesday when they will be delivering the added benefit of a report on economic projections, giving the market a much desired clearer picture of how Trump’s policies, particularly regarding tariffs, will impact the economy. Today, there was a lot more caution in the air as investors now are hedging their bets against not so great news. 

US stocks rally as investors weigh economic data, Trump policies

US stocks rally as investors weigh economic data, Trump policies

By Chuck Mikolajczak

Mon March 17, 2025 4:34 PM

All three indexes were more or less chugging along near flat (except Nasdaq in the red) until 1 pm when everything soared for the afternoon, only suddenly declining again in the final 15 minutes but still all closing in the green with the Dow once again into very respectable 3-digit gains. Like Friday, this is once again being attributed to picking up bargains after several weeks of tumble. But Trump’s policies remain a major area of nervousness and uncertainty and consumer sentiment continues to fall substantially.  

Wall St ends sharply higher as selloff prompts dip-buying rally

Wall St ends sharply higher as selloff prompts dip-buying rally

By Stephen Culp

Thu March 14, 2025 4:27 PM

Finally, finally!  Despite all the problems that remain out there, the market has finally gone low enough that investors felt comfortable picking up bargains and buying on the dip which I’m sure everybody hopes means that, despite both the S&P and Nasdaq being in correction and despite the continuing brutal uncertainty over the tariff wars, that maybe the indexes won’t go much lower. So today we had fantastic mid-to-upper range 3-digit gains across the board for the best single day since the day after the election when elation due to hopes of a better economy ruled. But it was still the fourth straight week of losses for the S&P and Nasdaq and six of the Magnificent 7 remain down for the year.  

Stocks sink with S&P 500 in correction, bonds in demand amid tariff angst

Stocks sink with S&P 500 in correction, bonds in demand amid tariff angst

By Sinéad Carew and Harry Robertson

Thu March 13, 2025 5:08 PM

The tariff wars continue to heat up and, in direct correlation, the stock market continues to drop drastically with big 3-digit dips across the board. Today, in addition to the Wednesday tariff on European steel and aluminum, now there is the additional threat of 200% tariffs on the EU as it becomes a litany of tariffs followed by reciprocal tariffs followed by more reciprocal tariffs and, so far, no one has been blinking. With the good inflation data reported yesterday and today from the CPI and PPI, we should be having a big rally but such momentum has been squashed by the ever-escalating trade war and fears of the recession it may well trigger. 

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher as cool inflation data calms tariff jitters

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher as cool inflation data calms tariff jitters

By Stephen Culp

Wed March 12, 2025 4:47 PM

All three indexes went into freefall in the morning session, the Dow losing about 300 points before noon.  But then a CPI report showing inflation heading in the desired direction pumped up everyone’s spirits which started a nice rally, especially in tech, a rally that likely would have been a lot stronger if not for all the fears and uncertainty surrounding the tariff wars. Because of the trade wars, “we really expect the uncertainty and volatility to continue here through much of March. Wall Street and Main Street are still looking for direction.”  

Stocks fall, adding to biggest selloff in months on economic fears

Stocks fall, adding to biggest selloff in months on economic fears

By Chuck Mikolajczak

Tue March 11, 2025 4:48 PM

The grand sell ff continues but today with a great deal of whipsaw action as the market reacts to even more new tariff news, the Dow whipping back and forth between lows of a 700+ point loss and a high of a 50 point loss.  After 1:30 pm we saw a brief comeback with the news of Canada dialing back and progress in the Ukraine peace talks, but that quickly went back to a dive around 3 pm with the reality check that so far this is just talk, not action. 

Wall Street ends sharply lower as recession fears loom

Wall Street ends sharply lower as recession fears loom

By Stephen Culp

Mon March 10, 2025 4:51 PM

 

It was a brutal, merciless day as all three indexes plunged drastically from the outset and straight down all day as the on-again-off-again tariffs compounded by still more new tariffs and reciprocal tariffs have left investors in serious fear of recession. The Dow hit a loss of almost 1200 points by 3 pm before recovering a little bit with the tech indexes having similar monumental drops that haven’t been seen in nearly 3 years. And it didn’t help matters one bit when Trump would not rule out a recession.  

Wall St ends higher after Fed chief's comments, but posts big weekly loss

Wall St ends higher after Fed chief's comments, but posts big weekly loss

By Chibuike Oguh, Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

Fri March 7, 2025 4:43 PM

Once again it took just the slightest hint of good economic news to send the indexes soaring again. But that’s not the way the day started, with all three indexes suffering dramatic slumps right out the gate, the Dow down 400 points by noon with the Nasdaq and S&P incurring similar morning dips. It must have been around noon that Powell delivered his remarks that the economy was “in a good place” that shot both the Dow and Nasdaq back into 3-digit gains again by close. But Powell had to strongly caution that the uncertainty created by Trump’s tariff policies is certainly problematic and thus there will be no rush to rate cuts.  

Stocks drop, dollar weakens as latest Trump tariff news weighed

Stocks drop, dollar weakens as latest Trump tariff news weighed

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Thu March 6, 2025 3:54 PM

On Wednesday, Trump announced that he was considering a one-month pause on the tariffs with Canada and Mexico and the stock market zoomed on just this little hint, any little hint, that the trade war may be easing. And today Trump did it, announced the one-month. But today it had the opposite effect. Today the market decided that, pause or no pause, there was just too much uncertainty here. As today’s expert put it, “Trump has been very confusing about these tariffs. One day they’re on and the next day they’re off for a month.”  

Wall Street ends higher as markets eye easing of trade tensions

Wall Street ends higher as markets eye easing of trade tensions

By Johann M Cherian, Sukriti Gupta and Chibuike Oguh

Wed March 5, 2025 4:40 PM

It was the opposite trend from Monday. Today all three indexes were straddling break-even, then suddenly went through the roof right around noon, which is likely when Trump announced the delay on car tariffs for another month. This market was just looking for a hint of good news, any kind of good news, about easing tariffs to jump right back on the “buy” bandwagon, both tech and industrials zooming to big middle 3-digit gains.  

Nasdaq nears correction territory dragged down by trade tensions

Nasdaq nears correction territory dragged down by trade tensions

By Chibuike Oguh, Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

Tue March 4, 2025 4:36 PM

For the second day in a row the three indexes were in freefall with the Dow, like yesterday, losing almost 700 points. The tariffs are contributing for sure but also concerns about valuations being way elevated and the inflation picture looking dour. The Nasdaq came very close to 10% correction territory today and the VIX rose to its highest since December 20. But the newly assigned tariffs are definitely on the front burner.  

Wall St closes lower as Trump sets 25% tariffs, manufacturing data dips

Wall St closes lower as Trump sets 25% tariffs, manufacturing data dips

By Johann M Cherian, Sukriti Gupta and Chibuike Oguh

Mon March 3, 2025 4:15 PM

All three indexes were more or less sputtering along the break-even line in the morning, probably sitting on the sidelines waiting for the next event to unfold. Then at 12:30 p.m. all hell broke loose and all three indexes fell right through the flow with major enormous 3-digit losses. It was likely at 12:30 that Trump made the announcement that the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada would take effect tomorrow.