Stock market today: Dow rises, Nasdaq slides as Trump keeps Wall Street guessing on tariffs

Mar 26, 2025
stock-market-today:-dow-rises,-nasdaq-slides-as-trump-keeps-wall-street-guessing-on-tariffs

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US stock losses intensified on Wednesday as Bloomberg reported President Trump’s auto tariff announcements could come as soon as Wednesday.

The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down 0.8%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the losses, sliding around 1.6%. Tech leaders Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) were both down about 5%.

Stocks are on shifting sands as markets respond to changes in tone from Trump on coming tariffs. The major gauges rallied after Trump indicated on Friday and then again on Monday that he might be “flexible” or offer countries “breaks” in reciprocal duties set to take effect on April 2.

SNP – Free Realtime Quote USD

As of 12:23:06 PM EDT. Market Open.

^GSPC ^DJI ^IXIC

But Trump told Newsmax on Tuesday that he “doesn’t want to have too many exceptions” to the levies — a potential swing back to the hard line seen earlier in March. Those threats directed at the EU and Canada fueled a sell-off that pushed the S&P 500 into correction territory.

Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs

Meanwhile, the White House appears to be accelerating its plans for copper levies. Tariffs on copper imports could be coming within several weeks, months ahead of a deadline for implementing the measures, Bloomberg reported. Copper (HG=F) prices surged to a record on the heels of the news.

In corporates, GameStop (GME) stock jumped around 13% in early trading after the video game retailer’s approval of a plan to buy bitcoin (BTC-USD) with its cash holdings.

Orders for durable goods came in stronger than expected in February, data released Wednesday showed. The 0.9% rise topped expectations for a drop of 1% but undershot January’s 3.3% reading.

LIVE 11 updates

  •  Josh Schafer

    Dollar Tree stock jumps on $1 billion sale of Family Dollar

    Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

    Investors are taking a positive view of Dollar Tree’s (DLTR) sale of the flagging Family Dollar business and mixed fourth quarter results that depicted a stressed consumer.

    Dollar Tree stock jumped about 4% in early trading after the discount retailer shared its plans to sell Family Dollar to two private equity firms, Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management, for $1 billion.

    Dollar Tree acquired the Family Dollar brand in 2015 for a grand price tag of $9 billion after it outbid rival Dollar General (DG) to win the chain.

    “I strongly believe selling Family Dollar and returning to our roots with an expanded assortment at Dollar Tree has created material value,” CEO Michael Creedon told investors. “2025 is going to be a transition year as we pivot to operating Dollar Tree as a standalone entity.”

    Read more here.

  •  Josh Schafer

    Can Tesla’s reputation be saved? A crisis management expert weighs in.

    Tesla (TSLA) stock was down almost 4% on Wednesday, reversing course after several days of rebounding.

    Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports on whether the electric vehicle maker can save its souring public image:

    Read the full interview here.

  •  Josh Schafer

    Durable goods orders rise more than expected in February

    Orders for durable goods rose 0.9% in February, well above economists’ expectations for a 1% decline in the month.

    Meanwhile, core capital goods orders fell 0.3% in February, below the 0.2% expected, while shipments of capital goods increased 0.9%, higher than the 0.2% economists had expected.

    The metrics are closely watched, as they feed into the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But following Wednesday’s release, economists at Goldman Sachs wrote that they left their first quarter GDP forecast of 1.3% annualized growth for the US economy “unchanged.”

    Renaissance Macro head of economics Neil Dutta described the durable goods release as “welcome” but questioned whether the increase will last, as uncertainty around President Trump’s policies has weighed on sentiment among businesses.

    “Between slower growth to begin the year with rising uncertainty to kick-off the administration’s economic policy agenda, business investment intentions have cooled off,” Dutta wrote. “In short, I would not expect this capex recovery to last.”

  •  Josh Schafer

    Tesla, Nvidia lead tech lower

    Tech leaders Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) were both down over 4% as the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) sank more than 1%.

    The move lower for Tesla comes after the stock rebounded more than 20% in the past five sessions.

  •  Josh Schafer

    Nasdaq slips at the open

    US stocks were mixed on Wednesday, largely holding near recent gains as investors looked to President Trump’s latest comments for more clarity on the scope of looming tariffs.

    The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) was roughly flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slid more than 0.4%.

  • Tesla stock falls 1.5% premarket, on track to snap 5-day win streak

    Tesla stock (TSLA) looked poised to break its recent winning streak Wednesday, with shares of the electric vehicle maker down 1.5% in premarket trading.

    Tesla has been battling a succession of concerns lately, including tumbling sales in Europe, tariff concerns, the growing unpopularity of CEO Elon Musk’s role in government, and protests at dealerships. As one crisis PR management expert told Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian of the controversy around Musk, “It’s almost impossible to be a politically divisive figure while running a consumer brand.”

    Year to date, Tesla stock is now down 28%. But it has looked to stage a comeback. Over the past week, the stock is up just as much, surging 12% on Monday alone.

    An all-hands meeting last week in which Musk assured the company (and investors) he is “back in the building” seemed to help the stock. And as Yahoo Finance’s Hamza’s Shaban wrote in today’s Morning Brief, Tesla’s biggest backers have largely kept the faith in what many consider a faith-based stock.

  • Jenny McCall

    Dollar Tree release earnings after announcing $1B Family Dollar sale

    Shares in the low cost retailer, Dollar Tree (DLTR) rose by almost 3% on Wednesday before the bell, after the company released it’s earnings and announced plans to sell its Family Dollar business to a consortium of private-equity investors for $1 billion.

    The discount-retail chain, which Dollar Tree bought in 2015 for about $9 billion, will be acquired by Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management.

    Dollar Tree also reported its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday. Net sales increased 4.7% to $17.6 billion. Dollar Tree’s same-store sales increased 1.8%, driven by a 1.6% increase in traffic and a 0.1% increase in average ticket.

    Gross profit increased 4.5% to $6.3 billion and gross margin was flat at 35.8%.

    Read more here

  • Copper surges to a record on report that tariffs are weeks away

    Copper (HG=F) prices surged to a record high in New York on the heels of a Bloomberg report that Trump may be just weeks away from implementing tariffs on the industrial metal.

    Futures on the Comex touched an all-time high of $5.374 a pound earlier on Wednesday and were last trading at around $5.261.

    Traders have been trying to front-run potential US duties on copper imports, causing a huge wave of demand that has spurred a roaring rally for the metal.

    Bloomberg reports:

    Read more here.

  • Barclays becomes latest Wall Street bank to slash its outlook on stocks

    Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.

  • Jenny McCall

    GameStop stock pops after company confirms plans to buy bitcoin

    GameStop (GME) stock continued to gain on Wednesday and rose 13% in premarket trading after the company approved a plan to purchase bitcoin (BTC-USD) with its cash holdings.

    Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer reports:

    Read more here


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