U.S. stock markets fell sharply on Thursday, erasing much of their record gains from the previous day, as President Donald Trump's trade war continues to threaten economic stability.
The S&P 500 fell 3.5%, capping a 9.5% gain on Wednesday after Trump announced he would suspend many of his tariffs around the world.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,014 points, or 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.3%.
US President Donald Trump has focused his attention on China, raising tariffs on its goods to levels well above 100%.
“Trump is blinking,” UBS strategist Bhanu Baweja noted in his analysis of the president's tariff policy, “but the damage is not yet fully undone.”
Mr Baweja added that even if an agreement could be reached to cut tariffs to 50% and leave other countries with only 10%, the damage to the US economy could be severe enough to hurt the expected future earnings growth of US companies.
The stock's slide accelerated Thursday after the White House clarified that imports from China would be subject to a 145% tariff, down from the 125% Trump indicated in his Truth Social post Wednesday, given his previous 20% tariffs on fentanyl.
At one point, the S&P 500 index fell more than 6%.
“The situation remains extremely volatile, as with Donald Trump it is difficult to predict what to expect,” said Francis Lun, CEO of Geo Securities. “There is a lot of uncertainty in the market. The threat of a recession is still very much alive.”
At the same time, China has reached out to other countries in an apparent effort to create a united front against Trump.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company behind the Minecraft movie, fell 12.5%, one of the sharpest declines on Wall Street, after China announced it would “reduce the number of U.S. film imports.”
Walt Disney Co shares fell 6.8%.
A spokesman for China's Film Administration said it was “inevitable” that Chinese audiences would become less receptive to American films given the US's “wrong move to arbitrarily impose tariffs on China.”
It comes after Trump and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sent a clear message to other countries on Wednesday by announcing a suspension of tariffs for most of them: “Don't retaliate against us and you will be rewarded.”
The European Union announced
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
