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Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq smoked as Powell warns of 'challenging' tariff impact, Nvidia plunges 7%
Amalya Dubrovsky and Josh Schafer
Updated 2 min read
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US stocks tumbled on Wednesday with tariff fears returning to Wall Street in earnest, as Nvidia (NVDA) revealed costly new curbs on chip exports to China and Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of the "challenging" impacts to come from the uncertainty around President Trump's trade policy.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped more than 2.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed roughly 700 points, or around 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell over 3% as the new chip provisions weighed on the tech sector.
Stocks hit session lows on Wednesday afternoon as Powell said during a speech in Chicago that the central bank will "wait for greater clarity" before considering any interest rate adjustments. He said he expects Trump’s tariffs to generate "higher inflation and slower growth."
"We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension," Powell said.
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Meanwhile, AI chip giant Nvidia also found itself caught in the crossfire of the burgeoning US-China trade war. Shares fell about 7% after the company revealed that the US government has imposed new restrictions on its chip exports to China. The company said the move would result in $5.5 billion in charges.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett said he expects to see "substantial clarity" on tariffs with major US trading partners, excluding China, over the next 90 days. For its part, China said Wednesday it is open to US talks, but only under certain conditions.
Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs
Meanwhile, consumers are already responding to the tariffs. Census Bureau data Wednesday showed retail sales rose more than 1.4% in March, the biggest clip in over two years, as consumers "front-loaded" purchases ahead of anticipated tariffs.
In commodities, gold (GC=F) reached a new record as the escalating trade war continues to push investors toward safe havens.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER 26 updates
Josh Schafer
A 'continued level of uncertainty' weighs on stocks again
US stocks took a tumble on Wednesday as investors were reminded of the costs that President Trump's tariffs will have for major companies and the challenges these policies may present for the broader US economy.
The market sell-off intensified in the final hours of trading as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered perhaps his starkest warning yet on the potentially stagflationary effects of the tariff policies. He said during a speech in Chicago that the central bank will "wait for greater clarity" before considering any interest rate adjustments, and he warned of the "challenging" impacts of the uncertainty, which has gripped the economy and markets in recent weeks.
The Fed's admitted conundrum added to an already down day for stocks, as AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA) revealed late Tuesday night that new restrictions from the US government on its chip exports to China would result in $5.5 billion in charges. AMD (AMD) made a similar announcement, saying the new provisions could cost the chipmaker up to $800 million.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped more than 2.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed roughly 700 points, or around 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell over 3% as the new chip provisions weighed on the tech sector. Nvidia and AMD both dropped about 7%.
"What this comes down to is this continued level of uncertainty in the markets," Sylvia Jablonski, Defiance ETFs CEO and CIO, told Yahoo Finance.
Alexandra Canal
Here comes Netflix earnings...
Netflix (NFLX) is set to report first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday with the company sitting as one of the best-positioned Big Tech names amid an uncertain economic environment dominated by President Trump's trade war.
"Amid recent market volatility, Netflix's strong subscription model with critical entertainment (which historically has performed well in a recession) has made the stock a defensive choice for investors," Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote on Tuesday.
Netflix stock is up 9% this year, a standout when measured against year-to-date declines of 17% or more for its larger tech peers, including Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL). The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is off about 9% in 2025.
Here's what Wall Street expects for the first quarter, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
This will also be Netflix's first report that no longer reports subscriber numbers as the company focuses on driving greater engagement and top-line growth. At the end of 2024, the company had 301.6 million global subscribers. Netflix said in its fourth quarter shareholder letter it will disclose subscriber data in the future "as we cross key milestones."
Read more here.
Josh Schafer
Tech stocks are leading the selling on Wednesday
Tech stocks led the sell-off as markets reacted to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday.
Nvidia (NVDA), which had already been down more than 7% after it disclosed that it would take a $5.5 billion hit from the US government's surprise new controls on its semiconductor exports to China, fell further. At last check, shares of the AI chip giant were down more than 9%.
Meanwhile, shares of Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL) were all down more than 3%. Tesla (TSLA) shares were lower by more than 5%.
Grace O'Donnell
Using example of autos, Powell says tariff-related supply chain disruptions may lead to 'extended' inflation
During his remarks Wednesday, Fed Chair Powell used the example of cars to illustrate how a one-time supply shock could lead to more persistent inflation.
Powell said that he has heard from CEOs of "significant companies" that uncertainty around importing components "is just a huge issue" right now.
"If you look back at the pandemic," Powell said, "there was a shortage of semiconductors, and that led to a shortage of cars at a time of extremely high car demand, and it was a prolonged shortage because production couldn't keep up, and ... that led to an extended period of inflation."
Currently, foreign autos and certain auto parts face a 25% tariff when they enter the US. But higher tariffs on steel, aluminum, and many of the US's trading partners also could affect auto production. According to a White House fact sheet, between 50% and 60% of US-made cars have content sourced from abroad.
Powell continued, "In this case, you can look at the car companies — which their supply chains likely seem to be on track to be disrupted significantly — and you would worry that that process will take some years, and that the inflationary process might be extended."
Waiting until more of these trade policies and economic effects are more well known is why the Federal Reserve is waiting on policy changes, Powell stated.
Alexandra Canal
Powell on wonky bond market action: 'Premature to say exactly what's going on'
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell commented on recent bond market action, noting it's too early to say what exactly has driven volatility in long-term Treasury yields.
"It's very hard to know in real time," he said during a speech on Wednesday. "I've had a lot of experience with significant moves, for example, in the bond market where there's a narrative that people land on, and then two months later you look back and go, that was completely wrong."
He added, "So I think it's very premature to say exactly what's going on."
The bond market has somewhat stabilized following an aggressive sell-off last week, spurred by President Trump's tariff whipsaw. Long-term Treasury yields skyrocketed on Friday, with the 10-year yield (^TNX) surging to its highest level since February to trade as high as 4.59%, a massive 72 basis point swing from the low of 3.87% seen just four days prior.
"Clearly, there's some deleveraging going on among hedge funds in levered trades," Powell said, referencing one possible catalyst: the unwinding of the basis trade.
"It's also the market processing historically unique developments with great uncertainty," he said. "You'll probably see continued volatility. But I wouldn't try to be definitive about exactly what's causing that. I will just say markets are orderly and they're functioning kind of as you would expect them to in this time of high uncertainty."
Josh Schafer
Fed Chair Powell: 'Markets are doing what they're supposed to do'
During a question and answer session at the Economic Club of Chicago, Fed Chair Jerome Powell was asked directly whether the Federal Reserve would intervene if the stock market continueds to plummet.
"No," Powell said, denying the theory that there is a so-called Fed put, or level of a stock market sell-off where the Fed would cut interest rates to calm markets.
Powell said markets are currently attempting to asses a highly uncertain environment and that leads to volatility.
"Markets are doing what they're supposed to do," Powell said. "They're orderly and they're functioning just about as you would expect them to function."
Powell: Trump's policies will move us 'away' from our goals
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the Trump administration's "significant policy changes," particularly around trade and tariffs, will likely move the Fed away from its goals, which include achieving 2% inflation and maximum employment.
Powell echoed recent economist warnings of stagflation, where growth stalls, inflation persists, and unemployment rises. This comes despite encouraging "hard" data in recent months, with core inflation rising at its slowest pace in four years.
"Unemployment is likely to go up as the economy slows in all likelihood, and inflation is likely to go up as tariffs find their way in," the central bank leader said, calling that economic reality a "strong likelihood" with consumers bearing the brunt of any inflation-related price increases.
"My hope is that we'll get through this and get back," he continued. "We're always going to be aiming for maximum employment and price stability. That's what we do. I do think we'll be moving away from those goals, probably for the balance of this year, or at least not making any progress."
He added, "We'll resume that progress as we can."
Risks of stagflation have shown up more firmly in Wall Street's projections following a string of disappointing survey releases, along with the administration's latest trade shocks and other policy unknowns, including recent efforts to cut government jobs from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Tariffs have been a particular pain point, with the administration threatening tariffs of up to 245% on Chinese imports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday that he was optimistic about "clarity" on tariffs and progress on key trade deals over the next 90 days.
Josh Schafer
Stocks hit session lows as Powell says Fed is 'waiting for greater clarity'
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank will "wait for greater clarity" before considering an interest rate adjustments following President Trump's recent tariff announcements.
Stocks quickly hit session lows in reaction.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped about 2.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed more than 600 points, or around 1.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 3.2% as the new chip provisions weighed on the tech sector.
As stocks sold-off, Renaissance Macro head of economics Neil Dutta wrote that "recession odds are climbing even further as Powell pushes back the timing of cuts."
Myles Udland
Powell speech hits markets as Fed chair says Trump's tariff a 'challenging scenario'
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said that tariffs rolled out by the Trump administration have so far been "significantly larger" than expected, and that "the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth."
Powell added that with the unexpected size and duration of the impacts tariffs may have on growth and inflation, "We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension."
Following Powell's remarks, stocks moved to session lows, with the Nasdaq (^IXIC) down over 2.6%, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) down 1.7%, and the Dow (^DJI) off more than 1%.
In short, Powell's speech suggests that not only is the Fed unlikely to react early to any impacts from Trump's tariffs but that these risks may be tilted to the "upside," meaning it invites a scenario in which the Fed needs to push back against the impacts of tariffs rather than smooth a path for a slowing economy.
Read more here or watch Powell deliver remarks below:
Josh Schafer
Apple market cap falls back below $3 trillion as 'relief rally' fades amid new tariff uncertainty
Apple (AAPL) stock fell more than 2.5% on Wednesday, sending the iPhone maker's market capitalization back below $3 trillion. Tariff pressures continue to weigh on the company after shares had enjoyed what some analysts called a relief rally earlier in the week.
Apple stock surged to start the week, leading the "Magnificent Seven" stocks higher as investors cheered the Trump administration's temporary tariff exemptions for tech products announced over the weekend.
The "relief rally," as Citi's Atif Malik put it, briefly put Apple's value back above the $3 trillion mark after it fell falling to its lowest value in almost a year last week at just under $2.6 trillion.
Apple is still the world's most valuable company, ahead of Microsoft (MSFT).
Read more here.
Alexandra Canal
Economists revise Q1 GDP forecasts
Wall Street economists are tweaking their GDP growth estimates as new data trickles in, with Trump's tariff whipsaw still firmly in the background.
The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tool, which uses already released data to forecast the quarterly pace of economic growth, now projects that GDP fell by 2.2% in the first three months of the year, an improvement from its prior April 9 projection of negative 2.4% growth.
The update follows Wednesday's retail sales data, which rose 1.4% in March, matching forecasts. The control group in the release, which excludes several volatile categories and factors into the GDP reading for the quarter, rose 0.4%. Economists had expected a 0.6% increase. The metric's February rise was revised higher to 1.3% from a prior reading of 1%.
Meanwhile, separate data released Wednesday showed manufacturing, which makes up three-quarters of total production, rose 0.3%, for the fifth straight month. However, industrial production fell 0.3%, dragged by a significant drop in utility output.
In a client update released Wednesday afternoon, Goldman Sachs economists said this morning’s retail sales report, including the upward revisions to February's data, came in stronger than they had expected based on their prior GDP forecasts. In contrast, the industrial production data tied to GDP tracking came in a bit weaker than anticipated.
As a result, the firm boosted its first quarter GDP growth estimate by 0.2 percentage points to 0.4% growth on an annualized quarter-over-quarter basis and increased its forecast for Q1 domestic final sales by 0.3 percentage points to 1.9%.
The next GDP reading is scheduled for April 30.
Josh Schafer
After surge to record highs, gold overtakes 'Magnificent 7' as the most crowded trade on Wall Street
Yahoo Finance's Ines Ferré reports:
Read more here.
Josh Schafer
Nvidia's Wednesday slide is 'emblematic' of the market's biggest challenge right now
Nvidia (NVDA) is down more than 6% on Wednesday after the company said it would take a $5.5 billion hit from the US government's surprise new controls on its semiconductor exports to China.
While tariff news did not directly weigh on Nvidia's stock Wednesday, Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick told Yahoo Finance that Nvidia's slide is "emblematic" of the issues driving the stock market lower over the past month.
"This is uncertainty," Sosnick said. "And uncertainty is a killer for a company, for any company."
Dani Romero
Tariff tensions shake builder confidence during critical spring housing season
The spring housing season is off to a shaky start as tariff concerns rattle builder sentiment.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose slightly to 40 in April, one point higher than in March, and modestly above economists’ expectations of 38, according to data polled by Bloomberg.
Still, a reading below 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as poor than good.
“Policy uncertainty is having a negative impact on home builders, making it difficult for them to accurately price homes and make critical business decisions,” NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz wrote in the press release.
Builders are also reporting rising costs for building materials due to tariffs. Data from the National Association of Home Builders found that 60% of builders are facing suppliers who have already hiked prices or are planning to increase them due to trade levies. On average, suppliers have raised prices by 6.3% in response to current, enacted, or anticipated tariffs, adding an estimated $10,900 to the cost of a new home.
Homebuilders continue to navigate a complex landscape. The US may revisit its trade policies with Canada and Mexico, while China-US negotiations remain unresolved. This uncertainty pressured the gauge for sales expectations in the next six months to fall 4 points to 43 in April.
Josh Schafer
Nvidia stock dives as chipmaker sees $5.5 billion hit from 'surprise' China chip controls
Yahoo Finance's Laura Bratton reports:
Nvidia (NVDA) stock sank about Wednesday after the AI chipmaker disclosed that it would take a $5.5 billion hit from the US government’s surprise new controls on its semiconductor exports to China.
Nvidia said in a regulatory filing late Tuesday night that the US government informed the company that it would require a special license for exports of its H20 chips made specifically for the Chinese market.
Notably, no licenses for GPU shipments into China have ever been granted given the US government’s concern that the chips could be used to build AI supercomputers in the country. Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis wrote in an analysis following the news the latest rule is effectively a ban.
Read more here.
Josh Schafer
New China chip controls send tech sector sliding 2% at the open
US stock futures fell on Wednesday after Nvidia (NVDA) revealed costly new curbs on chip exports to China, and investors grappled with uncertainty over President Trump's trade policy.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped around 0.9% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) about 150 points, or around 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell around 1.7% as the new chip provisions weighed on the tech sector. The Information Technology sector (XLK) fell more than 2% at the open.
Josh Schafer
AMD stock sinks as new US export controls could cost up to $800 million
AMD stock quickly lost more than 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday as the chipmaker said the US government's new export controls could cost it "up to approximately $800 million in inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves."
AMD's regulatory filing follows the likes of Nvidia, which said it could take up to a $5.5 billion hit.
Josh Schafer
Retail sales surge 1.4% in March, most since Jan. 2023, in latest sign of US economy's strength before tariffs
Retail sales rose more 1.4% in March, matching forecasts and serving as the best reading in over two years in the latest sign of the US economy's resilience before this month's sweeping reciprocal tariff announcements.
Headline retail sales rose 1.4%% in March, matching economists expectations, and well above the 0.2% increase seen in February according to Census Bureau data. This was the best monthly increase since January 2023.
The control group in Thursday's release, which excludes several volatile categories and factors into the gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the quarter, rose 0.4%. Economists had expected a 0.6%. The metric's February rise was revised higher to 1.3% from a prior reading of 1%.
March sales, excluding auto and gas, rose 0.8%%, above consensus estimates for a 0.6% increase.
Read more here.
Grace O'Donnell
Big banks maintain 'the sky is not falling' amid Trump tariff turmoil. So far.
Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports:
Read more here.
Grace O'Donnell
United Airlines issues two profit forecasts, stock rises premarket
United Airlines (UAL) stock climbed more than 7% in premarket trading after the company beat earnings expectations and said bookings remain stable.
The airline maintained its full-year forecast and provided a secondary forecast should the economy take a turn for the worse. Like Delta (DAL), United said it would slow its capacity growth later this year.
It is "impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence," United said in its release.
Shares of Delta, Southwest (LUV), and American Airlines (AAL) rose in sympathy on Wednesday morning.
Read more here.
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