Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
Stocks on Tuesday tried to stage a rebound after three days of steep losses, with all three major averages up around 4% at their highs. But it didn’t last. By the close, stocks were solidly in the red, extending the sell-off caused by fears over President Donald Trump‘s tariffs to a fourth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 320 points, or 0.84%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.15%. The S&P 500 meanwhile fell 1.57%, putting the index down nearly 19% from its February high and on the brink of bear market territory. Stock futures were sharply lower Wednesday morning after China announced it would raise its retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods. Follow live market updates.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks, on the day he signs energy-related executive orders at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 8, 2025.
Country-specific tariffs on 86 of the U.S.’ trading partners took effect overnight, setting into motion President Trump’s individualized “reciprocal” duties ranging from 11% to 50%. China quickly responded, hiking its retaliatory tariff on U.S. exports to Beijing to 84% from 34%. After the latest wave of tariffs, China is expected to face a 104% duty on its exports to the U.S. — the sum of pre-existing 20% tariffs on Beijing, the new 34% reciprocal tariff announced last week, and the additional 50% tariff Trump levied in response to China’s retaliatory duty. Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday that China “wants to make a deal” but has yet to reach out to the U.S. “We are waiting for their call,” Trump wrote.
The Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.
Shares of Apple have plunged 23% over the past four trading sessions amid fears that tariffs — specifically those on China, where Apple does the majority of its manufacturing — will raise the price of its iPhones. White House officials have said President Trump believes the tech giant can make its phones in the U.S., but experts aren’t so sure. “I don’t think that’s a thing,” Needham analyst Laura Martin told CNBC Tuesday, adding that reshoring iPhone manufacturing would take years and cause the price of iPhones to skyrocket. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said last week that an iPhone would cost $3,500 if produced in the U.S. Shares of Apple sank another 5% Tuesday, putting Microsoft back on top as the world’s most valuable company.
A “Now Hiring” sign is displayed on a shopfront on October 21, 2022 in New York City.
Hiring? That too-good-to-be-true application might be just that. Scammers are using artificial intelligence to apply for remote jobs at U.S. companies, with cybersecurity and cryptocurrency firms in particular seeing a recent surge in fake job seekers. In one instance, an applicant for a position at voice authentication startup Pindrop Security used deepfake AI technology to mask his face, Pindrop CEO and co-founder Vijay Balasubramaniyan told CNBC. “We are no longer able to trust our eyes and ears,” Balasubramaniyan said. Once hired, imposters can steal data, secrets or funds from the company, or install malware and demand a ransom. By 2028, 1 in 4 job candidates globally will be fake, according to research and advisory firm Gartner.
Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines, speaking on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Dec. 17th, 2024.
Delta Air Lines on Wednesday cut its growth plans and said it could not reaffirm its full-year financial guidance, citing disappointing bookings amid Trump’s tariffs, which CEO Ed Bastian called “the wrong approach.” The airline began the year on a high note, forecasting another year of strong demand, but Bastian said demand began slowing in mid-February. “In the last six weeks, we’ve seen a corresponding reduction in broad consumer confidence and corporate confidence,” Bastian told CNBC. Delta beat earnings expectations for the first quarter and reported quarterly revenue in line with Wall Street’s estimates. The carrier cut its first-quarter earnings outlook in March on weaker domestic travel demand.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Sean Conlon, Brian Evans, Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger, John Melloy, Ruxandra Iordache, Christina Wilkie, Erin Doherty, Jordan Novet, Alex Harring, Kif Leswing, Hugh Son and Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.
