Stock market today: Wall Street falls in final hours of trading before Trump’s tariff announcement

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Stock market today: Wall Street falls in final hours of trading before Trump’s tariff announcement

The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

2025-04-02T02:55:16Z

                                       

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are swinging again Wednesday in the final hours before         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump unveils the         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-rates-tariffs-9bbb04d6b66ccbda4f5856a179df20e3">tariffs he promised as part of his “         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-liberation-day-2a031b3c16120a5672a6ddd01da09933">Liberation Day ” that could drastically remake the global economy and trade.

The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower in morning trading after paring an early loss of 1.1%. It’s had a         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-tariffs-trump-gold-de726ebc21f6076450714f1e54e94fb1">pattern this week of opening with sharp losses only to         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-rates-tariffs-9bbb04d6b66ccbda4f5856a179df20e3">finish the day higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 140 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.

Tesla helped pulled the market lower after it said         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/tesla-deliveries-trump-musk-protests-boycott-67da667cd1267789fecf68376f2b5d14">it delivered fewer electric vehicles in the first three months of the year than it did in last year’s first quarter. Its shares fell 2.2% to extend their loss for the year so far to 35%. Tesla, one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of its immense size, has faced growing         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-tesla-doge-protests-a07cb5f20d65d0fb4dcb3547e2b7879c">backlash due to anger about CEO Elon Musk’s leading the U.S.         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/doge-firings-layoffs-federal-government-workers-musk-d33cdd7872d64d2bdd8fe70c28652654">government’s efforts to cut spending.

   

Financial markets around the world have been particularly shaky lately because of all the uncertainty around what Trump will announce in the event scheduled to begin after the U.S. stock market closes for the day. He has said he wants tariffs to make the global system more fair and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States from other countries.

   
       




   

But tariffs also threaten to grind down         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/us-economy-gdp-growth-trump-tariff-9c6686a658241dbad8ebdeff632ff0ac">growth for the U.S. and other economies around the world, while worsening         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/economy-consumer-spending-tariffs-c8be092ecf06a81ad79c4c8f921c7cbe">inflation when it seems to be remaining stubbornly higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Much is still unknown about what Trump will say later in the day, including how big the tariffs will be, which countries will be hit and what kinds of products will be targeted.

   
   
       
           
               
   
   


   
   

       
   

           
       
   
   

The announcement may also not even clear up all the uncertainty weighing on Wall Street, given that it may just provide a starting point for negotiations with other countries.

   

One of the hopes that’s helped push upward on the U.S. stock market recently is the possibility that at least the worst of the uncertainty may have already passed.

“We do not know how long the previously enacted tariffs and any future tariffs will remain in force, but we believe peak tariff uncertainty may soon be behind us,” according to Kurt Reiman, head of fixed income Americas, and other strategists at UBS Global Wealth Management. “Much of the work the administration set out to achieve will have been put in place, and there are numerous potential offramps available.”

The tariffs Trump plans to unveil later in the day follow other announcements of 25% tariffs on         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/autos-tariffs-trump-tax-imports-ford-gm-e53823ef7bbb7b3c46d11eca90aaa638">auto imports; levies against         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-china-643086a6dc7ff716d876b3c83e3255b0">China, Canada and Mexico; and expanded tariffs on         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-aluminum-steel-e5a6295577275045db3484b71c979bfb">steel and aluminum. Trump has also put tariffs against         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-venezuela-oil-gas-tax-9197d606dea29caed6a7a79dd358d26a">countries that import oil from Venezuela and plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips.

Another fear hitting the market is that the herky-jerky rollout of his trade strategy may by itself create enough nervousness to spur U.S.         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/consumer-confidence-economy-inflation-bd6ece8784efff205e2ab922bcb86958">households and businesses to         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/gold-price-record-high-economic-uncertainty-59ef0a740910042f488609ff471b4334">freeze their spending, which would damage the economy.

   

Surveys have shown deepening pessimism, but economists are waiting to see if that translates into actual damage for the economy. A report on Wednesday morning suggested the U.S. job market may still be running stronger than expected.

The report from ADP Research said employers, excluding the government, accelerated their hiring last month by more than economists estimated. It could offer an encouraging signal for the more comprehensive hiring report that’s coming Friday from the U.S. government. Economists expect that to show overall hiring slowed in March from February.

The job market has been one of the linchpins keeping the U.S. economy out of a recession.

Treasury yields nevertheless fell after the ADP payrolls report, continuing a trend that’s largely held since January on worries about how tariffs could slow the economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.14% from 4.17% late Tuesday and from roughly 4.80% early this year. That’s a significant move for the bond market.

   

On Wall Street, Newsmax fell 36.3% in its third day of trading to give back some of its meteoric gains from its debut. It surged 735% Monday and then another 179% on Tuesday.

In stock market abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

                                   
                               
                           

                           
                   
                   
Source: Stock market today: Wall Street falls in final hours of trading before Trump’s tariff announcement