Wall Street wavers as Trump’s tariff threats shake investor confidence

AWANI

Following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff threats targeting key trade partners like Japan, South Korea, and smaller economies, the S&P 500 closed slightly lower on Tuesday as investors remained cautious, with market volatility driven by uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, potential reciprocal tariffs, and the broader impact on sectors such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, while analysts warn that inconsistent tariff deadlines and political posturing may undermine economic stability and investor sentiment.

Transcript

00:00The S&P 500 ended Tuesday's choppy session, slightly lower as investors yearn for clarity

00:07on U.S. trade policy after President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats dampened hopes

00:12around talks with some trade partners. Wall Street equities had sold off sharply on Monday

00:18after Trump won of sweeping new tariffs on goods from key trading partners such as Japan

00:23and South Korea and a range of smaller countries starting in August.

00:27Tuesday's moves in U.S. indexes were less pronounced than in the previous session

00:32by the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq spent the session fleeting between red and green

00:38as investors looked for direction from tariff headlines.

00:42Overall, stocks today are taking the information about the tariffs in stride.

00:49Most of the activity that we saw yesterday has not continued into today, specifically the Tesla.

00:57move. And I think that investors continue to kind of take everything in stride,

01:02taking profits where it makes sense, but not really moving into anything just yet

01:08because we're still waiting to hear how the new tariffs and potential reciprocal tariffs,

01:13now that they're being extended, might impact things like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and the like.

01:18I think that the administration is losing some of the threat as they continue to show that they're willing to bend the rules

01:28and they're not standing hard line on these deadlines because they realize that these tariffs would be bad for the economy,

01:36not great for America.

01:38Trump appeared to broaden his global trade war with the announcement on Tuesday that he would put a 50% tariff on imported copper,

01:57while he said that long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were coming soon.

02:02The U.S. president said trade talks have been going well with the European Union and China,

02:07but added that he was only days away from sending a tariff letter to the EU.

02:12The market's cautious mood contrasted with the world volatility that was unleashed

02:15after Trump's April 2 Liberation Day tariff announcements,

02:19which pushed the Nasdaq down sharply to confirm a bear market and send the Dow and the S&P 500 into a correction.

02:25Since then, Wall Street has rebounded to regain lost ground,

02:29with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 powering to fresh record highs last week

02:33as a solid labor market report helped ease fears of a recession.

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