U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday, with the S&P 500 retreating from its all-time high posted a day earlier, as President Donald Trump imposed a 35% tariff on Canada, raising uncertainty over U.S. trade policy. All three major indexes ended in negative territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.6% or 279.13 points, to finish at 44,371.51 points.
The S&P 500 lost 0.3% to end at 6,259.75 points. Financials, materials, tech and communication services stocks were the worst performers.
The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) declined 1%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) lost 0.8%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) fell 0.4%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) dropped 0.7%. Nine of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.2% to close at 20,585.53 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 3.93% to 16.40. A total of 15.4 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 18.3 billion.
Indexes Retreat on Trade War Fears
Stocks slipped on Friday on fears of a trade war after Trump announced a whopping 35% tariff on all Canadian imports. The President said that fentanyl played a major role in the hike in tariffs.
He also threatened to go ahead with more tariffs if Canada retaliated. Besides, Trump also said that he was planning to impose a blanket 15% to 20% tariff on other countries. The blanket tariff is 10% now.
Stocks pulled back from their earlier high following the announcement as they feared that higher tariffs could lead to several countries retaliating, which may lead to a trade war. Investors also waited for Trump’s update on tariffs on the European Union.
Tech stocks suffered on Friday, with shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) declining 1.3%, while Apple Inc. (AAPL) fell 0.6%. Apple has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Friday’s moves came a day after the S&P 500 jumped 0.3% to hit a new all-time closing high. Investors are now looking forward to the second-quarter earnings season, which kicks off next week.
No major economic data was released on Friday.
Weekly Roundup
Friday’s losses pushed all three major indexes into the red for the week. The S&P 500 declined 0.3% for the week. The Dow and Nasdaq ended 1% and 0.1% lower, respectively, for the week.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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