Voice of America
05 Mar 2025, 05:00 GMT+10
Stocks racked up more losses on Wall Street Tuesday as a trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners escalated, wiping out all of the gains since Election Day for the S&P 500.
The Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday and doubled tariffs against imports from China. All three countries announced retaliatory actions, sparking worries about a slowdown in the global economy.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, with more than 80% of the stocks in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.6%.
The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4%. The tech-heavy index briefly reached a 10% decline from its most recent closing high, which is what the market considers a correction, but gains for Nvidia, Microsoft and other tech heavyweights helped pare those losses.
Financial stocks were among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 index. JPMorgan Chase fell 4% and Bank of America lost 6.3%.
Markets in Europe fell sharply, with Germany's DAX falling 3.5% as automakers saw sharp losses. Stocks in Asia saw more modest declines.
"The markets are having a tough time even setting expectations for what this trade war could look like," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird.
The recent decline in U.S. stocks has wiped out all of the markets' gains since President Donald Trump's election in November. That rally had been built largely on hopes for policies that would strengthen the U.S. economy and businesses. Worries about tariffs raising consumer prices and reigniting inflation have been weighing on both the economy and Wall Street.
The tariffs are prompting warnings from retailers, including Target and Best Buy, as they report their latest financial results. Target fell 3% despite beating Wall Street's earnings forecasts, saying there will be "meaningful pressure" on its profits to start the year because of tariffs and other costs.
Best Buy plunged 13.3% for the biggest drop among S&P 500 stocks after giving investors a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast and warning about tariff effects.
"International trade is critically important to our business and industry," said Best Buy CEO Corie Barry.
Barry said China and Mexico are the top two sources for products that Best Buy sells, and it also expects vendors to pass along tariff costs, which would make price increases for American consumers likely.
Imports from Canada and Mexico are now to be taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products subject to 10% import duties. The 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%.
Retaliations were swift.
China responded to new U.S. tariffs by announcing it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies. Canada plans on slapping tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days.
Mexico also plans tariffs on goods imported from the U.S.In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.20% from 4.16% late Monday. It's still down sharply from last month, when it was approaching 4.80%, as worries have grown about the strength of the U.S. economy.
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