Wall Street Mixed as US-China Trade War Prolongs Market Uncertainty
New York. US stocks wobbled Friday as Wall Street’s volatile week neared its end, while rising gold prices, a sliding US dollar, and falling bond prices signaled growing investor anxiety over President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent in morning trading after fluctuating between small gains and losses. It’s rebounding slightly from Thursday’s sharp selloff, which erased much of the index’s midweek rally triggered by Trump’s temporary pause on tariffs for countries outside China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 123 points, or 0.3 percent, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6 percent.
These modest gains may not hold. Markets have been swinging dramatically, not just daily but hourly, as investors struggle to gauge the trajectory of the US-China conflict and whether it could tip the global economy into recession.
China on Friday hiked tariffs on US goods to 125 percent, escalating the tit-for-tat spat following Trump’s latest moves.
“The US alternately raising abnormally high tariffs on China has become a numbers game with no practical economic significance—and will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” China’s Finance Ministry said. “But if the US continues to infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”
Despite Trump’s 90-day tariff pause for some nations, tensions between the world’s two largest economies are rattling global markets and eroding US consumer confidence.
A University of Michigan survey showed a steeper-than-expected drop in consumer sentiment. “This decline was pervasive and unanimous across age, income, education, geographic region, and political affiliation,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the survey.
“We’re still in the early innings of this global trade regime change,” said Darrell Cronk, president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “While the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs temporarily reversed the market selloff, it prolongs uncertainty.”
Gold prices surged more than 2 percent as investors flocked to traditional safe havens. But other safe assets weren’t seeing the same demand. The dollar weakened against the euro, yen, and Canadian dollar.
Prices for long-term Treasury bonds also dropped, pushing yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.53 percent from 4.4 percent late Thursday and 4.01 percent a week earlier, as investors demanded higher returns amid rising uncertainty.
Higher yields can weigh on stocks and drive up borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans, potentially slowing consumer and business activity.
Despite the turmoil, some corporate earnings offered bright spots. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo beat Wall Street’s expectations for first-quarter profits. JPMorgan shares rose 2.3 percent, Morgan Stanley gained 0.3 percent, and Wells Fargo dropped 3.7 percent.
A separate report showed wholesale inflation rose less than expected in March, which could give the Federal Reserve more room to cut interest rates. But economists caution the data is backward-looking, and inflation could climb in the coming months if tariffs raise costs across the economy.
Consumers now expect inflation to hit 6.7 percent over the next year, up from 5 percent last month — the highest since 1981, according to the Michigan survey. Such expectations can create a feedback loop that drives prices even higher.
Global markets were mixed. Germany’s DAX fell 0.7 percent, while London’s FTSE 100 added 0.9 percent on news of economic growth in February. Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 3 percent, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1 percent.
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