US stocks slide as White House plans new tariffs, inflation fears ignite hawks

U.S. stocks slid Wednesday as the White House readied new tariffs.

The S&P 500 fell 64.45 points, 1.1%, to close at 5,712.20, while the blue-chip Dow gave back 132.71 points, 0.3%, to hit 42,454.79. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2%, losing 372.84 points, and closed at 17,899.02.

Stocks opened mixed but turned lower midday after media reports that President Donald Trump was planning tariffs on autos to be announced as soon as Wednesday. Shares of Stellantis N.V. and General Motors closed lower.

Markets have moved in tandem with White House rhetoric on tariffs. Stocks surged Monday after Trump said new levies due to take effect on April 2 might be more limited than investors expected. But he walked back some of that talk and added some additional industries to his list for tariffs sometime “down the road," which kept stocks muted on Tuesday.

In economic news, orders for long-lasting goods like refrigerators were unexpectedly higher in February, the Commerce Department said Wednesday morning. So-called durable goods orders were 0.9% higher for the month, beating analyst forecasts of a decline.

Markets have moved in tandem with White House rhetoric on tariffs. Stocks surged Monday after Trump said new levies due to take effect on April 2 might be more limited than investors expected. 

But he walked back some of that talk and added some additional industries to his list for tariffs sometime “down the road," which kept stocks muted on Tuesday.

In economic news, orders for long-lasting goods like refrigerators were unexpectedly higher in February, the Commerce Department said Wednesday morning. So-called durable goods orders were 0.9% higher for the month, beating analyst forecasts of a decline.