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Investors weren’t happy with President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, sending stocks plunging. The S&P 500 fell 4% at 10:14 a.m., the Nasdaq composite declined 5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 3.7%, or 1,556 points.
For the Magnificent 7, declines in pre-market trading were 7.5% for Apple (AAPL+2.21%), 6.3% for Amazon (AMZN-1.08%), 4.7% for Meta (META-1.69%), 6.1% for Tesla (TSLA+1.13%), 5.7% for Nvidia (NVDA+0.54%), 2.8% for Microsoft (MSFT+0.24%), and 3% for Google’s (GOOGL+1.23%) parent Alphabet.
The import taxes will be applied on a country-by-country basis. Chinese goods, for example, will be hit with a 34% levy, while products from the European Union will be slapped with 20% duties. Mexican and Canadian goods won’t face any additional charges.
“I don’t think a trade war is particularly good for the stock market,” Melisa Brown, head of investment decision research at SimCorp (SIM-2.91%), told Quartz. The tariffs are “not the death knell for the U.S. economy, but could be very harmful for pockets of it.”
Economic data was mixed on Thursday. Initial jobless claims for the week through March 29 unexpectedly declined to 219,000 from un upwardly revised 225,000, but the continuing claims for the seven days to March 22 increased by more than estimated, to 1.90 million.
The ISM services purchasing managers index (PMI) ticked down by much more than expected for March to 50.8 from 53.5 in February, with the new orders measure dropping to 50.4. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
More stocks to watch today:
Constellation Brands
Constellation Brands (STZ+1.16%), which makes, imports and distributes alcoholic beverages, is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Thursday. Revenue and per-share profit may have been little changed from a year earlier. The stock fell 0.6%.
General Motors
General Motors (GM+3.46%) stock dropped 3% after Trump confirmed that 25% duties on cars, trucks and autoparts will go into place as planned. Stellantis (STLA+6.37%) fell 5.1%, and Ford (F+4.66%) slid 2.7%. Trump had announced the auto tariffs earlier, and refrained from imposing additional tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Nike, Lululemon, Deckers
Nike’s (NKE+2.54%) stock plunged 13% because the shoemaker’s contract factories abroad in countries including Vietnam and China will face much higher tariffs. Apparel maker Lululemon (LULU-0.23%) and Deckers (DECK-1.16%) Outdoor, which makes the Hoka and Teva brands, fell 13% and 17%, respectively for the same reason.
PDD
PDD (PDD+5.47%) stock fell 4.3%. The company’s Temu shopping website will be affected by the end of the de minimis exemption that allows low-value packages to be sent from China duty free.