Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/BI
- Tesla stock dropped over 5% on Wednesday.
- Tech stocks tumbled on a surprise announcement of auto tariffs from the White House.
- The sell-off puts the S&P 500 on track to snap a three-day winning streak.
Tesla shares dropped more than 5% amid a broad sell-off on Wednesday after the White House said President Donald Trump would announce auto tariffs at 4:00 p.m.
Few details were provided ahead of the announcement, but investors wasted no time reacting to the news. After wavering earlier in the day, the market moved sharply lower following the tariff news. Tesla shares tumbled, and the unexpected tariff update jolted other car makers and tech stocks.
Artificial intelligence giant Nvidia had already dropped earlier in the day and ended lower by about 6% following a report that it could face fresh regulatory hurdles in China, which accounts for 13% of its annual sales. Beijing is reportedly tightening chip energy standards, and these new rules would exclude Nvidia’s best-selling processor.
The S&P 500 lost 1.2% in Wednesday’s session, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 132.71 points.
Wednesday’s tumble snapped a three-day wining streak for the S&P 500. The benchmark index rallied in recent days amid a softening of Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy, which is scheduled to kick in on April 2.
Here’s where the market’s top tech names stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET closing bell on Wednesday:
