North American stocks finished lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq confirming it has been in a correction since December, weighed down by market jitters over the current uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policy.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that goods from Canada and Mexico covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) will be exempted for a month from the 25% tariffs imposed earlier this week. The development comes a day after Trump exempted automotive goods from the tariffs.
Trump had earlier only mentioned an exemption for Mexico, but later signed an amendment to his order that now covers Canada as well.
“The fog of confusion is getting thicker by the moment unfortunately,” said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at SiebertNXT in New York. “We are getting a lot of just different conflicting information: tariffs are on, tariffs are off, some tariffs are off and so forth.”
The Nasdaq dropped 10.4% from its December 16 closing level, confirming a correction. The S&P 500 briefly fell below its 200-day moving average during the session, a technical support level which could signal further declines if it significantly breaks under.
The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, ended up 2.94 points at 24.87, marking its highest close since December 18.
“The uncertainty created by rapidly shifting policy pronouncements can damage investment in particular and hurt the economy,” said Bill Sterling, global strategist at GW&K Investment Management. “The other thing that investors are concerned about is the size of the tariffs. This is way beyond what was experienced in 2018 and could raise inflation.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 427.51 points, or 0.99%, to 42,579.08, the S&P 500 lost 104.11 points, or 1.78%, to 5,738.52 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 483.48 points, or 2.61%, to 18,069.26.
Ten out of 11 sectors on the benchmark S&P 500 index finished lower, with the biggest losses in consumer discretionary, real estate and technology equities. Energy was the only gainer.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 286.78, or 1.2%, at 24,584.04, giving back nearly all of the previous day’s rally.
“With the constant barrage of geopolitical news - the tariffs on and then off again - confidence is getting a little bit leaky and it’s not surprising sentiment is not great,” said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio manager at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston. “We are also starting to see economic data slow at the margin. You put all these things together and it’s not surprising you’re starting to see chips come off the table.”
Automaker General Motors lost 2.6% while its counterpart Ford also finished 0.4% lower. Tesla fell 5.6% as brokerage Baird named the electric carmaker a “bearish fresh pick.”
Marvell slumped nearly 20% after the chipmaker’s results failed to impress investors. Other semiconductor makers were lower, including Broadcom and Nvidia, pulling the broader chip index down 4.5%.
Kroger rose 2% after forecasting annual same-store sales largely above estimates.
Data showed that the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. Investors will be eyeing Friday’s more comprehensive payrolls data.
Traders now see the Federal Reserve lowering borrowing costs by 25 basis points for the first time this year in June, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said that trouble may be brewing for an economy that is currently in good shape but showing signs of stress in the consumer sector and risks to the inflation outlook.
In domestic economic news Thursday, Canada’s trade surplus widened much more than expected to $4 billion in January as fears of U.S. tariffs pushed exports of cars and energy products higher.
The Toronto market’s technology sector fell 3.3%, with shares of electronic equipment company Celestica Inc down 10.4%. The sector was trading roughly 14% below the all-time closing high it posted three weeks ago.
TSX financials fell 1.7%, while utilities ended 2% lower as bond yields climbed. The materials group was down 1.1% as the price of gold edged lower.
Among stocks in Canada, shares of Aecon Group Inc tumbled 16.1% after the construction company fourth-quarter revenue expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.87-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 76 new highs and 151 new lows on the NYSE. The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and 10 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 29 new highs and 149 new lows. Total volume across U.S. exchanges was 16.13 billion shares, compared with the 20-day moving average of 16.08 billion shares.
Reuters, Globe staff