Photo of Wall Street (Matteo Colombo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks slid on Monday morning in the first trading session since President Donald Trump announced a new 15% tariff on most imported goods, intensifying his effort to impose levies that were struck down by the Supreme Court.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 90 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.1%.
Cryptocurrency prices tumbled in early trading on Monday. The price of bitcoin fell nearly 2%, putting it at about $66,075.
Gold prices jumped to their highest level in three weeks as investors sought the safe-heaven asset amid heightened uncertainty.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, Trump said, “accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior.”
Trump retains the power to levy a 15% tariff for up to 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to address trade disparities with other countries.
Hours after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, Trump said he would sign an executive order enacting a new 10% “global tariff,” invoking authority under Section 122. On Saturday, Trump escalated the tariff to 15%.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), March 27, 2026, in New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks closed significantly lower on Friday as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran showed little sign of an imminent resolution that would end one of the worst global oil shocks in decades.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 790 points, or 1.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.1%.
The session on Friday marked the end of a woeful week for the major stock indexes. The Dow declined 1% this week, while the S&P 500 fell 2%. The Nasdaq decreased 3%.
Late Thursday, President Donald Trump postponed U.S. attacks on power plants in Iran in an apparent effort to avoid escalation of the Middle East conflict.
In a post on social media on Thursday, Trump said he was “pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction” until April 6.
In the event of such an attack, Iran has said it would carry out strikes against energy infrastructure in neighboring countries, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency state media.
Wall Street appeared to find little solace in the reprieve from large-scale tit-for-tat attacks on infrastructure.
Iran continues to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil delivery. The strait facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global supply of crude oil and natural gas.
Global oil prices stood at about $113 a barrel on Friday, marking a staggering 61% rise since war with Iran began a month ago.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), earlier this week said the current oil crisis had surpassed the combined effect of worldwide energy shocks in the 1970s.
The global economy faces a “major, major threat,” Birol said at an event in Canberra, Australia, noting that no country would be “immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction.”
U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Thursday, suggesting concern about economic instability and inflation stemming from the Iran war.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, or the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.45%, marking a nearly half-percentage point jump from a month earlier.
On Friday, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs last April, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.
Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher prices that would eat away at those annual payouts.
In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on January 28, 2026 in Washington, (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Inflation cooled in January, dropping price increases to their lowest level in nine months and defying fears of a tariff-induced hike in overall costs.
Prices rose 2.4% in January compared to a year earlier, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Tuesday showed. The reading came in lower than economists had expected.
Inflation stands at its lowest level since May, but it remains a half-percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%.
Affordability remains a concern for many Americans as the political calendar turns closer to election season.
The data arrived days after fresh hiring figures showed stronger-than-expected job growth in January, even though an updated estimate released at the same time indicated a near-paralysis of the labor market last year.
The murky hiring picture marked the latest in a recent series of mixed signals in economic data, which have left observers uncertain about the potential risk posed by elevated inflation alongside sluggish hiring.
Observers closely watched price movements for some household staples, which have faced sharp increases of late.
Coffee prices surged about 18% in January compared to a year earlier, while ground beef prices climbed more than 17% over that span, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
Grocery prices rose at a faster pace than prices overall, climbing 2.9% over the year ending in January, BLS data showed.
Over the past year, hiring has slowed dramatically while inflation has remained elevated, risking an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation.” Those conditions have put the Federal Reserve in a difficult position.
The central bank must balance a dual mandate to keep inflation under control and maximize employment. To address pressure on both of its goals, the Fed primarily holds a single tool: interest rates.
The strain on both sides of the Fed’s mandate presents a “challenging situation” for the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in December.
The Fed held interest rates steady at its most recent meeting in January, ending a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts.
The benchmark rate stands at a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Futures markets expect two quarter-point interest rate cuts this year, forecasting the first in June and a second in the fall, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Monday, April 6, 2026. Signs of last-ditch efforts to secure a truce in the war that has rattled global markets spurred a cautious advance in stocks as oil retreated. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks soared and oil prices plunged in early trading on Wednesday, just hours after the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire.
The Dow Jones Industrial average surged 1,215 points, or 2.6%, while the S&P 500 climbed 2.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 3.4%.
As part of the accord, Iran says it will allow tankers passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, as long as they coordinate with the nation’s military. Investors appeared optimistic that the agreement would ease one of the worst global oil shortages in decades.
U.S. oil prices plummeted 18% on Wednesday, registering at about $92 a barrel. Still, the price of oil remained well above pre-war levels of about $67 a barrel.
President Donald Trump touted the ceasefire in a social media post on Wednesday, saying there would be “no enrichment of Uranium,” despite the Iranians claiming that the U.S. agreed to its plan, which includes numerous concessions.
The president added that “the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 Bombers) Nuclear ‘Dust.'”
The Iranian Supreme National Security Council’s statement on Tuesday included “acceptance of enrichment” in its 10-point plan.
Investors will likely pay close attention to a potential uptick in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Typically, scores of ships carry a fifth of the world’s oil through the strait each day, but Iran effectively closed the passage over the course of the war. That oil shortage sent crude prices soaring, and it threatened far-reaching price increases that some economists feared could tip the U.S. economy into a recession.
ABC News’ David Brennan, Jon Haworth and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
