US stocks mixed in volatile trading as trade war escalates
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(NEW YORK) –U.S. stocks were mixed at the open of trading on Wednesday, extending days-long turmoil in markets as tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S. and China heightened the risk of a global trade war and worsened fears of a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 315 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked up 0.03%.
Meanwhile, a selloff hit U.S. Treasury markets on Wednesday, sending bond yields higher and raising concern about a typical safe-haven asset during moments of instability for stocks.
President Donald Trump’s latest batch of levies on China increased the cumulative rate of tariffs on Chinese goods to 104% — a move met with retaliatory tariffs in Beijing that raised tariffs on U.S. goods to 84%.
The latest U.S. tariffs came into force with key Asian markets already open. In Japan, the Nikkei index dropped more than 5% in response, while the broader TOPIX index slipped 4.6%. The Nikkei closed down 3.93% and the TOPIX down 3.4%.
Stocks in Taiwan fell more than 5.7%, Singapore’s STI index slipped 2.4%, South Korea’s KOSPI index lost 1.8%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.8% and India’s NIFTY 50 dropped 0.4%.
In China, Hong Kong’s Hang Sen index slipped 0.4%. Shanghai’s SSE Shanghai Composite Index — which has fewer international investors and is buoyed by the state-owned investors known as the “National Team” — posted gains of 1.1% despite the new tariffs. Shenzhen’s SE Composite rose 2.2%.
In Europe, key indices dropped on opening.
The British FTSE 100 dropped by 2.2%, Germany’s Dax index dropped 2.3%, France’s CAC 40 fell by 2.4% and Spain’s Ibex index was down 2%. The pan-European STOXX index was down 2.6%.
United States stocks closed lower on Tuesday, marking a major reversal from a rally that sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up more than 4% earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 320 points, or 0.8%, while the Nasdaq dropped 2.1%.
The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, putting the index on the brink of a bear market, a term that indicates a 20% drop from a previous peak.
The move lower on Tuesday resumed a selloff that stretches back to Trump’s tariff announcement last week. Since then, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have each fallen more than 12%.
Hyundai vehicles on display at the New York International Auto Show on April 16, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — This weekend, consumers and auto enthusiasts will poke, prod and pepper brand specialists with questions about the latest vehicles on display at the Javits Center.
The annual New York International Auto Show, which officially opened to the public on Friday, is smaller and more condensed than previous years. There are still plenty of vehicles to check out up close, such as the 2026 Hyundai Palisade, Kia K4 Hatchback and EV4, plus Genesis, Toyota, Subaru and Volkswagen introduced new vehicles and concepts.
Of course, one overarching theme looms large: Will these new vehicles be subject to the Trump’s administration’s 25% industry tariff? Consumers went out in force last month to scoop up available cars, trucks and SUVs before prices inched higher, helping the industry report record sales. In fact, nearly 1.6 million vehicle units were purchased, marking a month-over-month increase of 29.6% and a year-over-year increase of 10.3%, according to Cox Automotive data.
What will happen to new vehicle prices this summer, when temporary pricing pauses announced by automakers disappear? And as uncertainty dominates, how will automakers — from mainstream to ultra luxe — respond?
ABC News spoke to various auto executives and industry watchers about the future of the industry. The conversations below have been edited for clarity and space.
Sean Gilpin, chief marketing officer, Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai is a very customer-centric brand, a people-centric brand. We just launched a campaign reminding customers that we’re not increasing MSRPs for the next 60 days (ending June 2). What we saw in the some of data and surveys is that customers don’t know how a tariff works but they know things will get more expensive potentially, so we wanted to get the message out there.
The June 2 date could be extended. The best medicine for our business is to keep selling cars. We think this message is resonating with customers. We’ve seen a big uptick in our shopping activity, in customers who are new to the brand and visiting the site for the first time. Dealer traffic is up.
We have a plant in Alabama. The Tucson, our best-selling vehicle, is built there. The Santa Fe is also built in the Alabama plant. We had a grand opening of our Metaplant near Savannah, Georgia, two weeks ago, and 300,000 vehicles will come off the line in phase one. Phase two will bring capacity to 500,000 vehicles. We’re continuing to invest here and grow in terms of our footprint. The U.S. is the No. 1 market for Hyundai. We also recently announced a commitment to build a steel plant in Louisiana.
Tony Quiroga, editor-in-chief, Car and Driver
The tariffs make everything a sort of unknown. I’ve been telling anyone who’s in the market in the next year to start shopping now. Inexpensive cars are going to get more expensive because so many are built outside of the U.S. Nissan builds the Kicks, Versa and Sentra in Mexico. Chevy builds the Trax in South Korea, which would be subject to be a big tariff. A lot people could be priced out of the market. If you’re in that market, you should definitely be considering buying a car now.
The tariff situation is unsettling and weird and everybody is just sort of wondering what’s going to happen and hoping for the best I think.
Vinay Shahani, senior vice president of U.S. marketing and sales, Nissan Americas
The market is healthy right now. There’s a lot of shopping, and a lot of cross-shopping, that’s happening. We feel really good about the activity out there.
We have plenty of on-ground inventory that’s protected from tariffs today. We’re very fortunate as a company that we have a very strong industrial footprint here in the U.S. Between Tennessee and Mississippi we produce a lot of vehicles that we sell here in the U.S. There are six models built in the U.S. between Nissan and Infiniti.
The Rogue is currently built at the Smyrna Assembly Plant in Tennessee as well as in Japan. Now we’re saying we’re going to increase the production of the Rogue in the U.S because it makes sense to do that and we can dial up production to deliver more U.S.-built Rogues. We’re also looking at subsequent new vehicles that we’re going to launch and saying, how can we optimize our footprint and bring as much as we can to the U.S.? It’s already happening — we’re moving production of the Rogue from Japan. The supply and manufacturing teams are already all over it.
Starting at the end of March, we started to see increased activity and it’s carried through for the month of April. We have basically said we’re holding our pricing between April and May. Then we will evaluate the situation after June 2. In this dynamic environment, where things are changing constantly, you can’t plan too far out.
Steven Center, chief operating officer, Kia America
Tariffs are a whole different kettle of fish as they say. Product cycles are long — they’re five, six, seven years or longer. Automakers have long planning horizons and you always want to have a shorter supply line as possible. We learned that during the pandemic. And you always want to build things closer to where you’re selling them.
To build a factory takes years of planning and execution. It’s very difficult to find a location for an auto plant. You need a lot of space, you need suppliers nearby, you need rail heads to bring in the materials. Most importantly you need a labor pool. And this country is in a state of zero unemployment. So where are you going to find people?
Erin Keating, executive analyst, Cox Automotive
Automakers have been fairly mute on tariffs — there haven’t been any big reveals on how they’re going to manage the cost. My advice: if you are in the market, and have been looking to buy a car, go to the dealer and buy one. If you’re just worried cars will get more expensive, wait it out. I wouldn’t rush ahead to make a decision — things could change.
There will be a grand redistribution of market share over the next few months. Whoever can capitalize on the frenzy of the consumer will win the day, at least in the second quarter. We’ve seen increased marketing from automakers and increased shopping behavior on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. The lending environment is looser now than in the past. There is still pent-up demand in the market.
We saw a big sales jump in March and will see another in April. Sales though could peter out in May. Automakers are trying to hold pricing right now … though prices will increase to some degree across the board. At the dealer level, floor planning is not cheap. You don’t want to keep inventory on the lot for a long time. If inventory goes quickly, you will have to replenish.
Ford and Honda have relatively low exposure to the tariffs. Toyota also has a lot of strength in the U.S. market in terms of manufacturing.
Vehicle parts are the bigger component of the tariff challenge. It’s so difficult to move production to the U.S. Brands are impacted separately; it really comes down to specific models. Vehicles built in the U.S. will get hit with tariffs because of the componentry. The 25% steel and aluminum tariffs are also hitting automakers.
I stress to consumers that it’s good to be informed of what’s happening. There are things you can do, like vote with your wallet.
Mike Rocco, president and CEO, Bentley Americas
The U.S. is the largest market in the world for Bentley. In the luxury space your world revolves around building an order bank — making sure you have customers in the system. We’ve told our retailers to communicate to their clients that we will price protect all retail orders that are in the system. If you have a car coming — don’t worry about it, you’re protected. We also announced that in the month of April, any new orders that went into the system would be protected, not just the ones prior to the tariff.
We’re looking at pricing on a month-to-month basis. There’s a lot of fluidity and things are changing. We haven’t had any [vehicle order] cancellations. Our No. 1 priority is to protect our clients and to protect our retailers.
I was recently in Palm Beach and Naples, Florida, talking to 70-80 clients. The feeling I got from customers I spoke to was that they’d have to pay whatever the tariff is … everyone recognized that the tariff would eventually be passed on to the customer.
Andrea Soria, general manager, Maserati North America
We live day by day. We keep monitoring. We are currently not shipping cars from Italy. It’s a very fluid situation. Every day you have different news. If nothing changes we will need to make some decision. We cannot absorb the tariffs entirely. We hope there will be some negotiation coming, some solution, something that will be a little bit more reasonable.
I think everyone in the industry is trying to adjust the sales. My colleagues in Italy ask me every day [about the tariffs]. I say, I wish I had a better answer. Everyone is waiting right now. We protected all the orders that were in the system until April 4. We haven’t seen anyone walking away [from an order] so far.
Tyson Jominy, vice president of data & analytics, J.D. Power
The auto industry is probably uniquely positioned to absorb the tariffs because sourcing time frames in the industry are so long. It takes so long to pivot to new ideas.
It’s a completely global industry. Even companies that assemble the majority of their vehicles in the U.S. have parts coming in from overseas. Therefore, no one really is exempt from tariffs. We’ll likely see some vehicles go away and automakers could cut back on marketing and reduce R&D costs to reserve cash. There’s really little they can do in the short term … and they’re holding cards close to their chest. Everyone is super tight-lipped about their plans.
We saw the industry really take off at the end of March, when the tariffs kicked in the last week. March was one of the strongest months we’ve seen in four or five years. Some automakers may even set sales records in the first half of the year. We expect a very strong Q2 but could see volume losses in Q4 — we know we can’t continue at this pace.
The automakers locking in prices have higher inventory levels. An automaker would normally be skewered for having 100 days of supply on the ground, but that’s a huge asset right now and buys you time. The tariffs may go away and you can see what your competitors are doing.
Our analysis says vehicles will have an 11% additional cost on average, or just shy of $5,000 per unit. But only 5% of the cost will be passed on to the consumer on average, or $2,300 per unit. You can’t raise the price of a Hyundai Sonata by $7,000 for example — that would be the equivalent of pulling out of the segment. Automakers may see negative margins on certain vehicles.
Models like the Porsche 911, Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Range Rover have true pricing power — customers won’t care [about a price increase].
I tell consumers not to rush out and buy a car. Ultimately making the right decision at a slightly more expensive purchase price would be the better decision for the long term.
(WASHINGTON) — A marketing email distributed this month by Trump Coins, a commemorative coin venture launched last year by President Donald Trump, attributes the soaring value of gold and other metals in recent weeks to the president’s “return to the spotlight.”
“President Trump’s bold stance on tariffs, American industry, and economic protection is pushing investors out of risky fiat and back into safe-haven metals,” the marketing email reads. “Confidence in strong U.S. leadership is driving real demand.”
But some experts assert that the sudden surge in gold reflects not “strong U.S. leadership” or “Trump’s ongoing momentum,” as Trump Coins frames it — but instead a consequence of financial uncertainty inspired by Trump’s erratic economic policies, including his commitment to impose widespread tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners.
The premise that rising gold prices evince a thriving U.S. economy runs “completely contrary to reality,” said Paolo Pasquariello, a finance professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Experts who ABC News spoke with said that the value of gold often rises in times of economic turmoil, particularly during trade wars or anticipated inflation.
“The fact that gold prices are going up right now sends as strong a message of displeasure with President Trump’s economic policies as I can think of,” Pasquariello said.
In the weeks since Trump’s self-styled “Liberation Day” — when he announced a sweeping set of tariffs — gold has notched several record highs. This week, the price of gold surpassed $3,500 per ounce for the first time.
Meanwhile, markets have tumbled in recent weeks, and the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that “escalating trade tensions” have dimmed “both short-term and long-term growth prospects.”
On April 16, when Trump Coins sent the marketing email lauding “another new record” for gold, it said the reason “isn’t just economic — it’s political.”
“Trump’s return to the spotlight is reigniting belief in real value and asset-based security,” the email said. “Central banks are stockpiling, buyers are doubling down, and Trump’s ongoing momentum keeps pushing metals forward.”
But experts said that skyrocketing gold prices have often been linked to periods of instability — offering the 2008 financial crisis and, more recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as examples.
Despite its volatility, gold is “the quintessential safe-haven asset” in times of economic uncertainty, said Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School.
Another explanation cited by experts for the precipitous rise in gold is that Trump’s policies have shaken confidence in some of the top alternative safe-haven assets: the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury bonds. Depreciation in the value of the U.S. dollar and volatility in Treasury yields have made gold more attractive as investors look for a safe haven, experts said.
Trump Coins frames itself as “the only medallions authorized and endorsed/designed by President Trump himself.” The commemorative coins, which include gold and silver busts of Trump, emerged during the 2024 presidential campaign as one of several merchandising ventures Trump profited from — a list that also included watches, sneakers, bibles and guitars.
After his 2024 triumph, Trump unveiled a one-ounce “Victory Gold Medallion” — with the president’s face and signature pressed in solid gold — for $3,645.47, a thousand-dollar upcharge compared to the price of an ounce of gold at the time. The “Victory Gold Medallion” now retails for more than $4,628, an increase of nearly $1,000 since late November and more than $1,300 higher than the current market price of an ounce of gold.
Details about the terms of Trump’s agreements with the merchandise company that sells his coins, JBCZ Group LLC, are not public. But experts said Trump has likely profited handsomely from this venture in light of gold’s precipitous rise.
As an investment strategy, experts say that other forms of gold may perform better in the long-run than Trump-branded coins.
“If you want to invest in gold, it’s best to actually use an ETF,” said Harvey, referring to a security that allows investors to invest in an underlying asset without purchasing that asset. In contrast, solid gold bars — or Trump Coins — are more difficult to sell, Harvey explained, and “that means when you sell, you sell it at a discount.”
(NEW YORK) — Stocks surged at the open of trading on Thursday after a panel of federal judges blocked President Donald Trump from slapping some of his far-reaching tariffs on China and other major U.S. trading partners.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 55 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 increased 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.4%
The ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade late Wednesday marked a major blow for Trump’s tariff policy, invalidating levies on dozens of countries unveiled in a Rose Garden ceremony that Trump had dubbed “Liberation Day.”
Trump later paused those so-called “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days, embarking on trade negotiations with the target nations that remain ongoing.
A separate set of tariffs focused on Mexico and Canada over their alleged role in the fentanyl trade also fell victim to the court’s ruling.
The Trump administration appealed the ruling within minutes, leaving the ultimate fate of the tariffs unclear.
The ruling centered on Trump’s unprecedented invocation of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act as a legal justification for tariffs.
The 1977 law allows the president to stop all transactions with a foreign adversary that poses a threat, including the use of tools like sanctions and trade embargoes. But the measure does not explicitly permit tariffs, putting Trump in untested legal territory.
The ruling afforded the Trump administration as many as 10 days to halt the tariffs.
Even before the court’s decision, Trump had rolled back some of the levies at issue.
A trade agreement between the U.S. and China earlier this month slashed tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies and triggered a surge in the stock market. Within days, Wall Street firms softened their forecasts of a recession.
The U.S.-China accord came weeks after the White House paused the reciprocal tariffs. Trump eased duties on some goods from Mexico and Canada.
The ruling did not impact sector-specific tariffs used under separate legal statutes, including levies targeting autos, steel and aluminum.
