Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Wednesday as investors worried about the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on the global economy, corporate earnings and inflation.
Details of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff plans were still being formulated and closely held ahead of a White House Rose Garden announcement ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (2000 GMT).
Trump has said that his reciprocal tariffs aim to equalize the comparatively lower U.S. tariff rates with those imposed by other nations. But the format of the duties was unclear, with reports that Trump was considering a 20% universal tariff.
The uncertainty around the specifics of the tariffs is heavily weighing on investors, prompting them to continue reducing their allocations to the U.S., said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.
“If there are hints that they’re going for a less draconian sort of tariffs, we could see some relief,” he added.
At 09:39 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 156.51 points, or 0.37%, to 41,833.45, the S&P 500 lost 26.55 points, or 0.47%, to 5,606.52 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 99.07 points, or 0.57%, to 17,350.82.
The domestically focused Russell 2000 index was down 1.3%.
Wall Street falls as tariff fears mount
All 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors were in the red, with the consumer discretionary sector leading losses, dragged down by a near 6% drop in Tesla shares after the EV maker reported a 13% drop in first-quarter deliveries.
Tech stocks, which have been at the forefront of the selloff this week, slipped, with Nvidia down 1.7% and Amazon.com slipping 1.1%.
Trump Media & Technology Group slid 6.1% after the operator of Truth Social filed papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that would allow President Donald Trump’s trust to sell shares in the company that could be worth $2.3 billion.
U.S. stocks have come under sharp selling pressure this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq falling 10% from their record highs last month and confirming a correction due to uncertainty around tariffs.
The S&P 500 shed 4.6% in the first quarter, its biggest three-month decline since July 2022.
On the data front, U.S. private payrolls growth accelerated in March. Factory orders data are scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Focus, however, is on the crucial monthly non-farm payrolls data as well as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday for insights into the health of the U.S. economy and trajectory of interest rates.
Traders are betting on three rate cuts from the Fed this year but the prospect of tariff-induced inflationary pressures has clouded the outlook.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.41-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted five new 52-week highs and eight new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded seven new highs and 187 new lows.
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