Stocks Drop After Stunning Day of Reversals

S&P 500 gives up early gain of 4.1%
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 8, 2025 3:46 PM CDT
Stocks Drop After Stunning Day of Reversals
Joseph Maguire works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

US stocks dropped Tuesday after a second day of stunning reversals. After blasting to an early gain of 4.1%, which would have marked its best day in years, the S&P 500 quickly lost all of it. It then careened to a loss of 3% before paring its drop to 1.6%. That left the index, which sits at the heart of many investors' 401(k) accounts, nearly 19% below its record set in February.

  • The S&P 500 fell 79.48 points, or 1.6%, to 4,982.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 320.01 points, or 0.8%, to 37,645.59 after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460.
  • The Nasdaq composite fell 335.35 points, or 2.1%, to 15,267.91.
Uncertainty is still high about what President Trump will do with his trade war, the AP reports. The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.

The shocking swings followed rallies for stocks globally earlier in the day, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris, and 1.6% in Shanghai. But even after those jumps, analysts had been warning to expect more swings up and down for financial markets not just in the days ahead but also the hours. The big question remains centered on how long Trump will keep his stiff tariffs on other countries, which would raise prices for US shoppers and slow the economy. If they last a long time, economists and investors expect them to cause a recession. But if Trump lowers them through negotiations relatively quickly, the worst-case scenario can be avoided. Hope still remains on Wall Street that negotiations may be possible, which helped drive the morning's rally.

On Wall Street, companies with vast supply chains around the world helped lead the losses. Ralph Lauren sank 5.6%, for example. It sourced about 15% of its products from China last fiscal year. Best Buy doesn't import many products directly from China, but the electronics industry in general has a supply chain that heavily depends on the country. Best Buy estimates vendor imports from China make up about 55% of the products it purchases, and the retailer's stock fell 8.3% On the winning side of Wall Street were health insurers, which rose after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a stronger-than-expected increase in Medicare Advantage payments for next year. Humana jumped 10.7%, and United Health climbed 5.4%

(More stock market stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X