1.57pm: Nasdaq nears green as stocks move off lows
The Nasdaq appeared to lead a slight recovery on Wall Street as Tuesday afternoon progressed.
Having tumbled on fears around Trump's tariffs earlier on, the Nasdaq bounced back to trade four points lower and just below the mark.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 also moved off the day's lows, though continued to face pressure and were down 1..1% and 0.8% respectively.
Among movers, Boeing Co remained over 5% lower as traders fled over the likely impact of tariff-related costs on the aircraft maker... Read more
12.37pm: Gold spikes as tariffs hammer stocks
Gold was among few beneficiaries as Donald Trump’s tariffs sent stocks spiralling on Tuesday.
Come the afternoon in New York, the yellow metal was up 0.82% for the day at $2,914 an ounce as investors rushed for a safe haven.
US stocks tumbled in the meantime, with the Dow Jones leading declines on Wall Street on a 1.5% drop as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell 0.5% and 1.1% respectively.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the largest set in almost a century, came into force against Mexico, Canada and China on Tuesday, sparking retaliatory measures.
Fears of escalating trade tensions subsequently fuelled fears around economic growth, leaving traders fully pricing in three quarter-point interest rate cuts by the Fed in 2025.
Gold’s gain on Tuesday meant it had added $57 an ounce since the weekend and edged closer to yet another record, after last month’s all-time high of $2,958.
“The ultimate haven in this storm is gold,” XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks noted.
11.30am: Wall Street hammering continues
Shares remained well down as Tuesday's session continued under the cloud of uncertainty around Donald Trump's tariffs.
Some 758 points, or 1.8%, were wiped off the Dow Jones come late morning.
The S&P 500 also suffered a 1.8% drop in the meantime, while the Nasdaq shed 1.7%.
"There’s a notable shift in market sentiment today, investors are in the grip of risk aversion," XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks said.
"A shifting geopolitical landscape, the US no longer aligning with Europe, and tariffs are a toxic mix."
9.51am: Steep declines at open
Retailers, banks and airlines were among the big fallers on Tuesday as stock markets reacted to Donald Trump's new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China kicking in.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2% in early trading, with the Dow Jones dropping 1.3%, the Nasdaq Composite losing 1.1% and the small and mid-cap Russell 2000 sliding 1.6%.
In the background, the VIX 'fear gauge' was up 6.6% to 24.29, the highest since December's Federal Reserve meeting.
Among S&P 500 stocks, losers were led by retailer Best Buy, down 13% on the back of fourth quarter results where it warned of continued pressure on consumers.
7.50am: Nasdaq tech titans tipped to head second day of retreat
The sell-off of US stocks is expected to deepen on Tuesday as Donald Trump's new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China kick in.
S&P 500 futures are pointing to a 0.7% fall, with Dow Jones futures down 0.4% and those for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.8%.
It was the tech-heavy Nasdaq that led the plunge the previous day, falling 2.6%, while the S&P 500 sank 1.8% and Dow Jones dropped 1.5%.
Nvidia, which plunged over 8% yesterday, was down 3.6% in premarket trading, with other premarket fallers including Tesla, Palantir and Super Micro Computer, down 3.8%, 4.3% and 6.5%, respectively.
The past 24 hours saw President Trump announce the suspension of military aid to Ukraine as well as 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, unravelling a trade agreement he signed just a few years ago, plus doubling 10% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Under the new rules, approximately half of total US imports are now subject to tariffs of more than 20% and the average US tariff rate is now above 10%, the highest since 1970.
On Tuesday, China began to fire out trade retaliations, imposing a 10-15% levy on various US farm and food products, halting imports of US logs, suspending imports of soybeans from three US companies and placing 25 US firms under export and investment restrictions.
Shares in Illumina were down 5% premarket as its gene sequencers were among those banned for import to China.
"It is hard to over-estimate the scale of change taking place in global economic and geopolitical relations in a matter of days," said George Saravelos, global head of FX research at Deutsche Bank.
"At the stroke of a pen, two pillars of America's role in the world are being fundamentally challenged: the US's security backstop for Europe and the respect of rules-based free trade."