US stocks plunge on tariff fears, inflation data
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Traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 28, in New York City.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks plummeted on March 28, with all three major indexes ending the day sharply lower in anticipation of a fresh wave of tariffs by US President Donald Trump next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.7 per cent to 41,583.90, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index lost 2 per cent at 5,580.94.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index dived 2.7 per cent to 17,322.99.
The fear is that reciprocal tariffs to be announced on April 2 would “cause an economic slowdown”, said Mr Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.
“It’s going to hurt earnings across the board,” he warned.
Mr Sarhan added that other countries might not act to reduce the tariffs’ impact and could retaliate.
“That could lead to a global recession or a global economic slowdown, and that could hurt profits,” he said.
On March 28, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Mr Trump that Ottawa will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect its workers and economy, after Washington announces added trade actions next week.
The stock market stumble also came as investors digested inflation data released earlier on March 28.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding volatile food and energy costs rose more than anticipated in February, by 0.4 per cent from January.
From a year ago, the PCE price index, a preferred inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve, was up 2.8 per cent. This was higher than analysts expected as well. AFP
