Wall Street drifts as global stock markets take Trump’s new tariffs in stride
Worries that Trump’s tariffs are damaging the economy linger, particularly after last week’s worse-than-expected report on the job market
Stocks are drifting on Wall Street Thursday after US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs took effect on dozens of countries.
The S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent after climbing earlier to within a whisper of its record, which was set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 147 points, or 0.3 per cent, as of 10.45am Eastern, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7 per cent higher.
Worries are still high that Trump’s tariffs are damaging the economy, particularly after last week’s worse-than-expected report on the job market. But hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a torrent of stronger-than-expected profit reports have been overshadowing the concerns on Wall Street, at least for now. Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher.
The Bank of England cut its main interest rate on Thursday in hopes of bolstering the sluggish UK economy.
The US tariffs that took effect on Thursday morning were also already well known, as well as lower than what Trump had initially threatened. Some countries are still trying to negotiate down the tax rates on their exports, and continued uncertainty seems to be the only certainty on Wall Street. All the while, the US stock market faces criticism that it has climbed too far, too fast since hitting a bottom in April and left prices looking too expensive.