WASHINGTON: Wall Street stocks were little changed early Tuesday following a cut to global growth forecasts, with the United States expected to be hit hard as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs weigh on the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was almost flat at 42,323.97, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index edged up 0.1 percent to 5,939.58.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to 19,279.52.
The world economy is set to grow by 2.9 percent in 2025 and 2026, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday, cutting its forecasts from a previous report.
Wall Street mixed after Trump’s steel tariff threat
The OECD also lowered its US growth forecast for this year, from 2.2 percent to 1.6 percent, and warned that “substantial increases” in trade barriers are among the factors to impact growth if they persist.
“The general trend that is driving markets appears to be the creeping uncertainty over the path of tariffs and trade,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
“We’re more or less in a ‘wait-and-see’ mode about what news is delivered to us,” he added.
Since returning to the presidency, Trump has imposed 10 percent tariffs on imports from most trading partners and threatened steeper rates – currently on hold – on dozens of economies.
He has slapped levies on imports of steel and aluminum, which he plans to double this week, straining ties with partners including the European Union.
The market movements come as investors await more details of potential trade deals between Washington and governments around the world, as they seek to avert higher duties.
Looking ahead, traders are also eyeing official employment data for a gauge of how the world’s biggest economy is holding up under Trump’s policies.
“We’ll likely start seeing jobs creation numbers that are lower than the average,” said Hogan.
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