Daily Market Report March 28th, 2025
The recent negativity continued yesterday as the major indices ended lower after a late attempt failed as there were moves in opposite directions as the President’s latest tariff escalation created winners and losers among the auto stocks.
The indices finally ended lower after drifting between small gains and losses several times through the day but the Dow once again could not hold onto early gains and ended 155 points lower to 42,299 on selling in the financial issues such as AXP, GS in addition to IBM, 3M and UNH for a change.
The S&P also ended down after a very late vicious selloff from a gain ended with a 19 point decline to 5693 on those financial declines in addition to some technology losses as well, with some actually having the nerve to gain, such as 2025 losers AAPL, MSFT and AMZN.
The Nasdaq did poorly again as most technology stocks came lower, especially APP on a huge drawdown and it ended at off 94 to 17,804.
The Russell 2000 Index of small stocks had little going for it and it ended off by 8 to 2066 while the VIX moved higher to 18.69.
GM did poorly with a decline of 7.5% after Trump announced 25% tariffs on imported cars. F also came down as well as even U.S. automakers selling vehicles in the country can feel the pain of such tariffs because their supply chains are spread throughout North America. Trump says he wants more manufacturing to take place within the United States.
Among the uncertainties are how the U.S. government will determine how to apply tariffs to parts that are compliant with the free-trade agreement that the United States and Mexico and Canada have, but are not made entirely within the United States. Tracking parts could be difficult.
Automakers based outside the United States also sank. In Seoul, Hyundai Motor dropped 4.3%. In Tokyo, Honda Motor fell 2.5%, and Toyota Motor lost 2%.
But U.S. electric-vehicle makers RIVN and TSLA held up much better. They look to face less pressure from Trump’s tariffs because more of their production happens in the United States.
Companies that could benefit from drivers opting against buying new cars also moved higher. Among auto parts retailers, AZO, ORLY and KMX all did well.
Expectations are high for stock markets worldwide to remain shaky as an April 2nd deadline approaches for tariffs. That’s what Trump has called “Liberation Day,” when he will roll out tariffs tailored to the United States’ trading partners. In each case, he said the “reciprocal” tariff will match the burden the other country places on the United States, including things like value-added taxes.
Hopes are still high that Trump may ultimately opt for more targeted or milder tariffs that are less painful for the global economy than feared. But even if he does, all the talk about tariffs has already made consumers and businesses feel more cautious and pessimistic. If such sour moods convince them to pull back on their spending, it could hurt the economy.
So far, the economy has seemed to be holding up.
One report on Thursday said slightly fewer workers applied for weekly jobless claims (224k) than economists expected. A second report said the U.S. economy’s growth during the final three months of last year was slightly stronger than earlier estimated at 2.3%.
The better-than-expected data helped Treasury yields in the bond market remain relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.36% from 4.35% late Wednesday.
WOOF made a very large percentage gain from low levels after the retailer reported slightly stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Earnings this week will see: yesterday – JEF lower, today – LULU lower.
Economic reports will have: yesterday - weekly jobless claims fell to 224K, final look at 4Q G.D.P. came in at 2.3%, February pending home sales gained 2%; Friday – the always important February P.C.E. Index came in at 0.3% gain month over month and 2.5% year over year while the core rate rose by 0.4% and 2.8* year over year, final March U. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index came in at 57 which was the lowest since November 2022.
By Don Selkin