Stock Market Today: Wall Street Hangs Near Its Records Despite Tariff Talk

Economy

By Associated Press

Published 7 months ago on

November 26, 2024

Wall Street remains resilient as investors weigh Trump's tariff threats against recent market gains and mixed retail reports. (AP/Peter Morgan)

Trump's tariff talk overshadows mixed retail earnings, leaving investors to assess potential economic impacts.
Consumer confidence improves in November, but falls short of economists' expectations amid economic uncertainty.
Big Tech stocks, including Amazon and Microsoft, help prop up U.S. indexes despite broader market concerns.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are hanging near their records on Tuesday as Wall Street takes Donald Trump’s latest talk about tariffs in stride, even if they could roil the global economy were they to take effect.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in morning trading and was on track to squeak past its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 270 points, or 0.6%, from its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time.

Global Markets React to Trump’s Tariff Threats

Stock markets abroad were down, but mostly only modestly, after President-elect Trump said he plans to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office. Stock indexes were down 0.1% in Shanghai and nearly flat in Hong Kong, while Canada’s main index was down 0.4%.

Trump has often praised the use of tariffs, but investors are weighing whether his latest threat will actually become policy or is just an opening point for negotiations. For now, the market seems to be taking it more as the latter.

Unless the United States can prepare alternatives for the autos, energy products and other goods that come from Mexico, Canada and China, such tariffs would raise the price of imported items all at once and make households poorer, according to Carl Weinberg and Rubeela Farooqi, economists at High Frequency Economics. They would also hurt profit margins for U.S. companies, while raising the threat of retaliatory tariffs by other countries.

Impact on Specific Industries and Companies

General Motors sank 7.3%, and Ford Motor fell 1.8%. Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and other Mexican beers in the United States, dropped 4.4%.

Beyond the pain such tariffs would cause U.S. households and businesses, they could also push the Federal Reserve to slow or even halt its cuts to interest rates. The Fed had just begun cutting its main interest rate from a two-decade high a couple months ago to offer support to the job market. While lower interest rates can boost the overall economy and prices for investments, they can also offer more fuel for inflation.

Unlike tariffs in Trump’s first term, his proposal from Monday night would affect products across the board.

Mixed Retail Reports and Consumer Confidence

Trump’s tariff talk came almost immediately after U.S. stocks rose Monday amid excitement about his pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. The hope was the hedge-fund manager could steer Trump away from policies that balloon the U.S. government deficit, which is how much more it spends than it takes in through taxes and other revenue.

The talk about tariffs overshadowed another set of mixed profit reports from U.S. retailers that answered few questions about how much more shoppers can keep spending. They’ll need to stay resilient after helping the economy avoid a recession, despite the high interest rates instituted by the Fed to get inflation under control.

Kohl’s tumbled 20.4% after its results for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Tom Kingsbury said sales remain soft for apparel and footwear, which helped drag its revenue lower. Kingsbury said a day earlier that he plans to step down as CEO in January. Ashley Buchanan, CEO of Michaels and a retail veteran, will replace him.

Best Buy fell 8% after likewise falling short of analysts’ expectations. Dick’s Sporting Goods topped forecasts for the latest quarter thanks to a strong back-to-school season, but its stock lost an early gain to fall 2.4%.

A report on Tuesday from the Conference Board said confidence among U.S. consumers improved in November, but not by as much as economists expected.

J.M. Smucker jumped 7.6% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after topping analysts’ expectations for the latest quarter. CEO Mark Smucker credited strength for its Uncrustables, Meow Mix, Café Bustelo and Jif brands.

Big Tech stocks also helped prop up U.S. indexes. Gains of 2.7% for Amazon and 1.9% for Microsoft were two of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose following their big drop from a day before driven by relief following Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.31% from 4.28% late Monday, but it’s still well below the 4.41% level where it ended last week.

In the crypto market, bitcoin continued to pull back after topping $99,000 for the first time late last week. It’s since dipped back toward $93,400, according to CoinDesk.

It’s a sharp turnaround from the bonanza that had earlier taken over the crypto market following Trump’s election. That boom had also appeared to have spilled over into some corners of the stock market. Strategists at Barclays Capital pointed to stocks of unprofitable companies, along with other areas that can be caught up in bursts of optimism by smaller-pocketed “retail” investors.