Sell-off comes as White House’s 25 percent auto import tariffs set to begin in early April
Josh Marcus – INDEPENDENTuK
Major U.S. stock indices were all trading down on Friday, in what is seen as a sign of market worries over inflation and volatile trade prospects under the Trump administration.
By the time the markets closed later that day, the Dow had fallen 1.69 percent, the S&P 500 had tumbled 1.97 percent, and the Nasdaq had plunged 2.70 percent, as investors braced for an expected update next week on the White House’s overall tariff strategy.
“When you have a big day like that and everyone’s anticipating the worst, what people do is they take risk off, so we’re seeing the selling accelerate going into a weekend,” Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told The Wall Street Journal. “I think the event itself will probably get a rally. It’s sell the rumor, buy the news in this case.”
The numbers put the market closer to some of its largest ever one-day drops, like the 975-point Dow plunge that came in April 2020 at the outset of the Covid pandemic.
Friday’s market slide came the same day that the Commerce Department released data showing higher-than-predicted inflation in February, which was up 2.8 percent from one year ago by one measure.
Traders are also likely pricing in the coming changes from Donald Trump’s planned 25 percent tariff on imported autos, which are set to take effect on April 3.
Automakers around the world felt the pain on Friday, with GM, Toyota, Tesla, and Mercedes all trading down.
In 2024, the U.S. imported $214 billion worth of passenger cars, roughly half of all cars sold in the country.
The tariffs are not only expected to impact the U.S. market, but could also wreak havoc on America’s major trading partners, like Canada, which employs some 500,000 auto workers.