US stocks closed mixed today as the onset of President Donald Trump’s widespread tariff regime weighed on investor sentiment.
The Dow closed lower by 224 points, or 0.51%. The S&P 500 fell 0.08%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq rose 0.35% and closed at a record high after fluctuating between gains and losses.
Stocks opened higher before mostly turning lower as investors assessed the implications of the tariffs. The Dow rose as much as 305 points, or 0.69%, before erasing its gains.
The average effect tariff rate on US imports is now the highest since the 1930s, according to the Budget Lab at Yale.
“There’s just a lot of questions about what their economic effect is going to be, whether that’s on inflation or on employment,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “When you have those questions, eventually a market that’s at all-time highs and has been running here at high valuations is going to potentially come into some weakness.”
Gold prices gained 1%. The yellow metal is a haven amid uncertainty.
As of this morning, 87% of companies in the S&P 500 had reported earnings for the second quarter, with 81% of those companies beating Wall Street’s expectations, according to FactSet.
As stocks have risen through earnings season, the bar for continued gains can be higher, according to Angelo Zino, technology analyst at CFRA Research.
“The market almost is trying to take a breather,” Zino said. “It’s one of those situations where you kind of have to digest some of that stuff.”
Elsewhere in markets, shares of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (LLY) tumbled 14% after results from trials for its weight-loss pill were slightly less impressive than Wall Street had expected.