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Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slide as tariff-pause euphoria gets a reality check
- The day after President Trump softened his stance on reciprocal tariffs, some of his top economic advisers continued to work out the messaging on where this strategy is taking both Trump’s policies and the US economy in the months ahead.
- In a post on X early Thursday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a “Golden Age” is coming and that the economy would soon be “exploding.”
- An interesting choice of words, given that Lutnick clearly means an explosion in the positive though a more negative interpretation isn’t far away for those skeptical either of Trump’s temporary pause or his continued pursuit of evening out America’s trade relations.
- Late Wednesday, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal published in-depth play-by-play reconstructions of the events that led to Trump’s eventual pivot away from his harshest measures.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the bond market both emerged as key figures working in the background to push Trump’s towards a 90-day pause. Lutnick also reportedly began looking for the president to ease off some tariff pledges quickly after the “Liberation Day” announcements shocked markets.
- In the end, though, Trump remains a man on a mission. As the Journal reported: “The episode was classic Trump: He took a drastic action, closely tracked the reaction, kept advisers and allies guessing and then changed course.”
- Early Thursday, stocks were lower, giving back some of the gains from Wednesday’s historic rally as investors take stock of what we learned, who has influence, and return to the place from which we came: a world of advisers backing up strategies they only partially own while investors pressure the administration for better answers, sooner.
- Stocks pulled back on Thursday, giving back a fraction of the historic gains from the prior session as a market euphoria following President Trump’s 90-day tariff pause on most trading partners wore off, and traders assessed the impact of a direct China-US trade war on the economy.
- The S&P 500 (GSPC) sank 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) tumbled 2.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell more than 500 points.
- Stocks are coming off their biggest one-day rally since World War II after Trump announced a 90-day pause on non-retaliatory US trading partners, still keeping in place a blanket 10% tariff, while upping levies against China to 125%.
- Oil retreated on Monday as China is the biggest crude importer. Energy related stocks dropped the most. Tech also fell as megacap stocks gave back a fraction of the prior session’s gains.
- New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics out Thursday showed that a key inflation metric rose by less than anticipated in March.
- On a “core” basis, which strips out the more volatile costs of food and gas, the March Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed 0.1% from February’s 0.2% monthly gain and lower the 0.3% economists had expected. On an annual basis, prices rose 2.8%, well below economists’ expectations of 3% and lower than the 3.1% increase last month.
- Headline consumer prices also rose less than expected. The CPI increased 2.4% over the prior year in March, less than February’s 2.8% increase. The yearly increase was below the 2.5% increase economists had expected.
- The index fell 0.1% over the previous month, well below the 0.2% surge seen in February.
- “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks are taking a leg lower in premarket trading Thursday as fears returned to growing US-China trade tensions.
- Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) led the early losses, falling nearly 4%, while Apple (AAPL) declined by 3.5%. Amazon (AMZN) was down by around 3%, Meta (META) lost 1.8%, Microsoft (MSFT) fell 1.6%, and Google (GOOG) lost 1.2%
- The pullback follows a historic rally led by the Big Tech names. The “Magnificent Seven” stocks gained $1.5 trillion in market value on Wednesday, Reuters reported, though they did not fully recoup the roughly $2 trillion of losses they suffered last week in the aftermath of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
- Stocks in Europe surged on Thursday, in contrast to on Wall Street, as investors welcomed President Trump’s U-turn on “reciprocal” tariffs for many of the countries targeted.
- Helping lift spirits was the EU’s decision to put its retaliatory tariffs against the US on hold, matching Trump’s 90-day pause on his sweeping “reciprocal duties.
- The pan-European Stoxx 600 (^STOXX) benchmark climbed 5.1%, having surged by the most in five years at the open.
- Germany’s benchmark DAX index (^GDAXI) climbed 5.6%, while France’s CAC (^FCHI) in Paris rose 5%. In London, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) advanced 4.2%.
- US Steel (X) stock fell 10% in premarket after President Trump said he didn’t want the American producer to “go to Japan” suggesting he opposes Nippon Steel’s $14 billion bid for the company.
- Shares were last trading at $40.64 each, well below Nippon Steel’s $55 a share offer price.
- Trump’s comments come just days after he told a US national security panel on Monday to take a fresh look at the proposed deal, lifting hopes it could get a so-far elusive green light.
- Reuters reports:
- Read more here.
- Oil prices dropped as US President Donald Trump continued to escalate his trade war with China. A 90-day pause on ‘reciprocal’ tariffs failed to bolster the commodity’s price globally.
- Reuters reports:
- Read more here.
- Asian markets rebounded sharply after President Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs affecting the majority of countries across the region. However, caution lingered as traders remained uncertain about a long-term resolution, though Japanese and South Korean indexes saw their biggest gains since August.
- Bloomberg reports
- Read more here.
