Wall Street Declines for the Second Consecutive Day Due to Tariff Negotiations

On Wall Street, stock prices fell for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as it remains unclear how negotiations between the U.S. and its largest trading partners regarding tariffs are progressing. The Dow Jones index weakened by 0.95 percent to 40,829 points, while the S&P 500 slid 0.77 percent to 5,606 points, and the Nasdaq index fell 0.87 percent to 17,689 points.

In particular, stock prices in the pharmaceutical sector dropped the most, by more than 2.5 percent, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would decide on tariffs for imported pharmaceutical products in the next two weeks. Investors were also put on alert by the lack of coordination between Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Bessent stated that the government could announce several trade agreements as early as this week. However, Trump later said that he and the government would review trade agreement proposals in the next two weeks and decide which to accept.

– Everything depends on trade negotiations, and Trump speaks as if he will win. However, a big question remains about what will happen with China. I think negotiations with Canada and the European Union will not be easy, but negotiations with China will be very difficult, and I believe it will take a long time to reach an agreement – says Tim Ghriskey, a strategist at Ingalls & Snyder.

Market uncertainty has prevailed since April 2, when Trump announced reciprocal tariffs. In the first days following that, the S&P 500 index plummeted by more than 15 percent, but later recovered all those losses.

On Tuesday, a two-day meeting of the leaders of the U.S. central bank began, but a reduction in interest rates is not expected.

Nevertheless, investors will closely monitor every word of the Fed’s statement to decipher the central bank’s intentions.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently stated, despite Trump’s pressures on the Fed to lower rates, that the central bank would wait for new data before making a decision on interest rates, which should show how the introduction of tariffs will affect economic growth and inflation.

Stock prices also fell on most European exchanges yesterday. However, the London FTSE index strengthened by 0.01 percent to 8,597 points, while the Frankfurt DAX slid by 0.41 percent to 23,249 points, and the Paris CAC fell by 0.40 percent to 7,696 points.

On Asian exchanges, stock prices rose on Wednesday. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index was up 0.4 percent at 7:00 AM. Stock prices in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, and Shanghai rose between 0.1 and 0.7 percent.

Investors were encouraged by a series of new stimulus measures to help the Chinese economy better cope with the consequences of the trade war between Beijing and Washington.

The People’s Bank of China announced a reduction in the key interest rate by 0.10 percentage points and a decrease in the reserve requirement ratio for banks to stimulate lending, which should promote economic growth.

Additionally, authorities announced a series of measures to support real estate and capital markets.

The rise in stock prices is also attributed to the announcement that a meeting between high-ranking trade officials from the U.S. and China will take place next weekend in Switzerland.

– This shows that both sides are willing to meet at a high level, which is, of course, positive for the markets – says Ray Attrill, director at National Australia Bank.

Following this news, stock indices in Hong Kong jumped by more than two percent, but later lost some of those gains.

On the currency markets, the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies slightly fell. The dollar index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar against the other six major world currencies, is around 99.52 points this morning, while it was 99.75 points at the same time yesterday. Meanwhile, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen slipped from yesterday’s 143.75 to 143.30 yen.

The U.S. currency also weakened against the euro, with the price of the euro reaching 1.1340 dollars, compared to 1.1325 dollars at the same time yesterday. Oil prices, on the other hand, rose. The price of a barrel on the London market strengthened by 0.87 percent to 62.70 dollars, while on the U.S. market, a barrel increased by 1.02 percent to 59.70 dollars.