Stock Market News for Feb 3, 2025

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday after the White House announced that President Donald Trump would impose stiff 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods on Saturday, sparking fears of another trade war. All three major indexes ended in negative territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 0.8% or 337.47 points, to end at 44,544.66 points. 

The S&P 500 lost 0.5% or 30.64 points, to finish at 6,040.53 points. Energy, consumer staples, and materials stocks were the worst performers.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) dropped 2.8%, while the Materials Sector SPDR (XLB) fell 0.7%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) declined 0.9% each. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.3% or 54.31 points to close at 19,627.44 points.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 3.72% to 16.43. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 2.3-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.95-to-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 15.78 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 15.5 billion.

Investors were already bracing for Trump to impose sharp tariffs on some of the nation’s biggest trading partners. On Friday, the White House finally announced that it would impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods and 10% on Chinese imports from Saturday.

Following the announcement concerns grew that Trump’s decision could spark another trade war as Mexico, Canada and China would also announce retaliatory tariffs. Investors’ confidence took a hit after that. The Dow which had risen over 170 points at its session’s high, gave up all the gains to end sharply lower for the day.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also finished in the red, with stocks exposed to these markets suffering the most. Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) fell 1.1%, while Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ) lost 1.9%. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Investors also digested earnings reports from a bunch of big tech names. Shares of Apple, Inc. (AAPL) ended 0.7% lower after the company reported disappointing iPhone sales in its last quarter. However, the company beat both earnings and revenue expectations.

Apple reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings of $2.40 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.36 per share. The company posted revenues of $124.3 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.24%.