Heard on the Street Recap: Tariff Wipeout -- WSJ

Dow Jones04-04

By Heard Editors

What Happened in Markets Today

Major stock indexes dropped sharply. U.S. markets slid in their steepest decline in more than two years, as investors grappled with the threat that President Trump's new tariff plan will trigger global retaliation and hurt economic growth. The Dow industrials dropped 1,679 points, or 4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, which powered the market higher for years, was down 6%, led by big declines in Nvidia, Apple and Amazon.com. The S&P 500 fell 4.8%.

The dollar slipped to its lowest level of the year. The decline reflected unease over the growth outlook and fears that the flow of international funds into the country will be sharply curtailed. Inflation expectations rose. The WSJ Dollar Index, an indicator based on a basket of currencies, has now lost more than 5% this year and is below where it was on Nov. 5, before its postelection rally.

Some of the world's biggest companies lost billions of dollars of value. Dozens of household-name stocks posted double-digit declines, including HP, Nike and Target. Stellantis also fell sharply. The Jeep maker said it is temporarily halting production at its auto assembly factories in Mexico and Canada. Apple and Nvidia lost nearly $500 billion in combined value.

Traders are scaling up their bets on interest-rate cuts. Federal-fund futures now show that traders see a 59% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by at least a percentage-point this year, up from 31% Wednesday, according to CME Group data.

Some of America's allies came out swinging. French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe is weighing retaliation against U.S. tech firms, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country will match President Trump's auto tariffs with 25% tariffs of its own.

This analysis comes from the Journal's Heard on the Street team. Subscribe to their free daily afternoon newsletter here.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2025 19:54 ET (23:54 GMT)

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Heard on the Street Recap: Tariff Wipeout -- WSJ

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