U.S. Stocks End Lower Amid Tariff Announcements

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday as indexes declined following the White House announcement that President Donald Trump will impose tariffs of 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on Chinese goods starting Saturday.

Investors are bracing for further tariff news, as Trump has consistently hinted at this measure. The uncertainty surrounding the impact of these tariffs creates ambiguity regarding the economy and inflation.

Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, expressed surprise at the market’s reaction, stating, “I would have thought the market would be down more. It’s not just the announcement itself, which I think probably impacts a select number of industries. It’s whatever retaliation moves are taken.”

Stocks declined further on Friday afternoon after the announcement of tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China.

The week also concluded a heavy quarterly results period for U.S. companies. Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) ended down 0.7% despite optimism from recent executive comments, suggesting a recovery from a dip in iPhone sales due to AI feature rollout.

Energy was the weakest sector in the S&P 500 on Friday, with Chevron (NYSE:CVX) shares decreasing by 4.6% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that fell below estimates, while Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) shares slipped 2.5% after its quarterly results.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 337.47 points, or 0.75%, to 44,544.66.
• The S&P 500 lost 30.64 points, or 0.50%, to 6,040.53.
• The Nasdaq Composite decreased by 54.31 points, or 0.28%, to 19,627.44.

Despite the losses on Friday, indexes saw gains for January, with the Dow up 4.7%, the S&P 500 up 2.7%, and the Nasdaq up 1.6%.

For the week, the Dow gained 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined by 1% and 1.6%, respectively. The tech sector faced selling pressure after Chinese startup DeepSeek announced a breakthrough in affordable AI models.

Economic data released earlier Friday supported expectations that the Federal Reserve would maintain interest rates unchanged for a longer period, showing strong U.S. consumer spending alongside a moderate inflation increase in December.

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), noted, “Clearly, it makes total sense that the Fed didn’t do anything this week, and it makes sense (Fed Chair) Jay Powell would say they’re not in a hurry to lower rates.”

The Fed postponed rate changes in its policy announcement on Wednesday, favoring further progress in inflation before any cuts.

After market close, Trump indicated that he anticipates tariffs related to oil and gas by February 18, but provided no specifics regarding the country or details.

On the NYSE, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a ratio of 2.3-to-1, with 231 new highs and 54 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 1,491 stocks rose while 2,913 fell, outnumbering advancers with a 1.95-to-1 ratio.

Total volume on U.S. exchanges amounted to 15.78 billion shares, slightly above the 15.5 billion average of the last 20 trading days.