Tariff Talk – US Market Wrap
Stocks came within a striking distance of their all time highs while the dollar got hit as President Donald Trump moved to impose reciprocal tariffs, but not right away.
All major groups in the S&P 500 rose, with the gauge up 1%. The greenback dropped against all of its developed-market counterparts. Treasuries rebounded from their worst slide since December. Big tech outperformed as Tesla and NVIDIA each rallied over 3%. Apple gained 2% as chief Tim Cook said the “newest member of the family” is coming on Feb. 19. Meta advanced for a 19th straight day.
While Trump signed a measure directing the US Trade Representative and Commerce secretary to propose new levies on a country-by-country basis, the process could a while to complete. Lutnick, his nominee to lead the Commerce Department, said all studies should be complete by April 1 and that Trump could act immediately afterward.
The decision not to implement tariffs right away could be seen as an opening bid for negotiation following the same strategy Trump already used to extract concessions from Mexico and Canada, rather than a sign he’s committed to following through.
The S&P 500 topped 6,100. The Nasdaq 100 added 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8%. The Russell 2000 gained 1.2%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell nine basis points to 4.53%. The yen gained 1.1% on safe- have appeal, while the Canadian dollar touched a new high for the year.
