Wall Street’s early gains faded on Friday after the White House confirmed that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on major US trading partners would take effect on Saturday.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 345 points (0.8%), and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4%, as investors reassessed risks tied to trade tensions.
Tariffs trigger sell-off in key stocks
The market turned lower after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along with a 10% duty on Chinese imports, would be made public this weekend.
Stocks with significant exposure to these regions, such as Constellation Brands (Corona’s parent company) and Chipotle, fell 2% and 1%, respectively.
Energy stocks also slumped, with Chevron and Exxon Mobil declining 4% and 3%, respectively, after posting disappointing Q4 earnings.
Meanwhile, Apple initially rallied on stronger-than-expected services revenue, despite weak iPhone sales, but later gave up gains to trade 1% lower.
Markets wrap up a volatile week and month
Despite Friday’s losses, major indexes managed to recover some ground from Monday’s tech-led selloff.
The Nasdaq Composite, which plunged 3.07% earlier in the week amid concerns over China’s DeepSeek AI startup, trimmed its weekly losses to 1.7%.
The S&P 500 is on pace for a 1% weekly drop, while the Dow is set to finish 0.2% higher for the week.
Nvidia, a key driver of recent tech volatility, rebounded from a 17% Monday plunge to pare weekly losses to 14%.
For January, all three major indexes posted gains despite the turbulence.
The S&P 500 rose 2.6%, the Nasdaq advanced 1.5%, and the Dow outperformed with a 4.7% monthly jump.
Inflation data keeps Fed watchers on edge
Friday’s release of December’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index—the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge—showed a 0.3% monthly rise and a 2.6% annual increase, in line with expectations but higher than November’s 2.4% rate.
The core PCE, which excludes food and energy, climbed 0.2% monthly and 2.8% annually, raising concerns about persistent inflation pressures.
With the market grappling with trade policy uncertainties, earnings surprises, and inflation signals, investors remain cautious heading into February
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