S&P 500 dips in a day of utter tariff confusion
It was a helter-skelter day on Wall Street full of confusion and, ultimately for the S&P 500, relatively small losses.
Stocks opened deep in the red but roared into positive territory after a headline attributed to White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett implied that President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day pause to tariffs on countries excluding China. The White House dismissed that report as “fake news,” sending stocks right back down, where they continued to whipsaw.
The benchmark US stock index closed down 0.3%, the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.1% gain, and the Russell 200 ended down 0.9%.
Tech was the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, thanks largely to a recovery in semiconductor stocks, with communication services the only other group to finish in the green. Real estate, materials, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples paced losses.
Super Micro Computer was the standout performer in the S&P 500, as it’s the rare overlap in the Venn diagram of “inexpensive stock” and “tied to AI.”
Alibaba tumbled after Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on China in light of Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs. Some retailers that source a lot from Asia, like Dollar Tree and Five Below, still managed to post big gains on the day. Online clothing reseller ThredUp, one of the more tariff-insulated companies there is, also surged.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives left his mark on a couple megacap tech stocks today, with Apple and Tesla dropping after he slashed his price target on both companies.
Strategy slumped after announcing it would take a near $6 billion unrealized loss on its crypto holdings in the first quarter (unrealized, of course, because HODL).
