Wall Street Indexes Plunge 5% as Trump Tariffs Shake Confidence In U.S. Trade Policy

Barry Adams
03 Apr, 2025
New York City

Wall Street indexes plunged more than 3% after investors factored the impact of the recently announced Trump tariffs, and the dollar decreased 2% against the euro.

The S&P 500 plunged 4%, and the Nasdaq Composite decreased 5.5% as investors feared that the announced tariffs surpassed the market expectations. 

Investors sold stocks across the board, and benchmark indexes accelerated losses as the session progressed. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 5.5%, and the smaller company-focused Russell 2000 dropped more than 6%.

Investors are worried that steep tariffs will slow down consumer spending and contribute to inflation as most retailers will pass on higher prices to consumers.

Moreover, exporters are likely to suffer as well as key trading partners retaliate with their tariffs on goods imported from the United States. 

On the economic front, the U.S. trade deficit in February decreased 6.1% to $122.7 billion after exports rose at a faster pace than imports, according to the monthly report released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

Overall exports advanced from the previous month by 2.9% to $278.5 billion, and imports were nearly unchanged at $401.1 billion.

 

Commodities, Currencies, Indexes, Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 3.5% to 5,473.29, the Nasdaq Composite edged down 4.7% to 16,779.97, and the Russell 2000 index was down 3.9% to 1,965.10.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 3.75%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.02%, and 30-year Treasury bonds declined to 4.45%.

WTI crude oil decreased $5.31 to $66.42 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged higher by $0.11 to $4.17 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $98.46 to $3,065.70 an ounce, and silver edged down by $1.89 to $31.90.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, decreased by 2.31 to 101.50 and traded at a two-year high.

 

U.S. Movers

Retailers, technology companies, and consumer-focused service providers plunged in a widespread sell-off on Wall Street.

Lululemon plunged 13% to $246.05, RH Inc collapsed 42% to $144.15, Nike declined 12% to $144.15, and Abercrombie & Fitch plunged 17% to $69.09.

Apple Inc. decreased 8.6% to $204.56, Microsoft dropped 2.2% to $204.56, Nvidia declined 6.5% to $103.09, and Alphabet Inc. Class A fell 3.3% to $151.93.

American Express dropped 8.6% to $251.42, Capital One Financial declined 12% to $160.26, and Bank of America lost 10.5% to $37.64.