US stock market today: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq show fight after bloodbath following China's 84 per cent duties retort to Donald Trump's 104 per cent tariffs salvo

US stock market is witnessing topsy-turvy trading on Wednesday even as President Donald Trump’s trade war keeps escalating. The S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent in midday trading after quivering through the morning. The index at the center of many 401(k) accounts swung from an initial loss of 0.5 per cent to a gain of 1.4 per cent and back down, all in less than an hour after trading opened. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged as of 11:50 am (ET), and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9 per cent higher.

Huge swings have become routine for financial markets worldwide recently, not just day to day but hour to hour, as investors struggle to game out what Trump's trade war will do to the economy. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 careened between a gain of 4 per cent and a loss of 3 per cent for a second straight day of shocking reversals.


Wall Street’s latest moves came after Trump’s latest round of tariffs kicked in after midnight for imports from around the world. That included a 104 per cent tax on things coming from China, and the world’s second-largest economy quickly retaliated by saying it would raise tariffs on U.S. goods to 84 per cent on Thursday.

Such aggressive brinkmanship between the world’s two largest economies is raising fears that tariffs will stick around for a while, which economists and investors expect would create a recession. The European Union on Wednesday also approved tariffs affecting $23 billion in U.S. goods in its own retaliatory move.

Some hope still does remain on Wall Street that Trump could lower his tariffs following negotiations with other countries, which is what’s helping to send stock prices upward at times.

FAQs

Q1. What are key US stock market indexes?
A1. Key US stock market indexes are S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq.

Q2. What do we know about US-China tariffs feud?
A2. Wall Street’s latest moves came after Trump’s latest round of tariffs kicked in after midnight for imports from around the world. That included a 104 per cent tax on things coming from China, and the world’s second-largest economy quickly retaliated by saying it would raise tariffs on U.S. goods to 84 per cent on Thursday.