US stocks fall ahead of Trump tariff announcement, Tesla drops
Trump has billed the announcements as "Liberation Day" tariffs and said the reciprocal levies are meant to address what he calls unfair treatment from US trading partners.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in New York City on April 1, 2025. (AFP)
By AFP .
Journalists @New Vision
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NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks fell early Wednesday ahead of a heavily-touted new tariff announcement by President Donald Trump while Tesla shares slid on weak first-quarter sales.
Trump has billed the announcements as "Liberation Day" tariffs and said the reciprocal levies are meant to address what he calls unfair treatment from US trading partners.
But stocks have been dragged down by uncertainty over what that will mean in practice.
About 40 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 per cent at 41,868.54.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.4 per cent to 5,611.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.4 per cent to 17,378.70.
Earlier Wednesday, major indices fell around one per cent or more.
"This is one of the most uncertain situations that I can recall," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
"Right now ... there's a market paralysis because nobody knows what's coming, and there's also a business paralysis," Sosnick said.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares were down 2.1 per cent after sinking more than six per cent at one point before recovering somewhat after Elon Musk's automaker reported disappointing first-quarter auto sales.