Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Fall; PCE Inflation Data; Trump Tariff Deadline; Nvidia, Apple, Vertex, More Movers
The latest tariff headlines woke up the market’s fear gauge.
The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, spiked suddenly to 16.16 after trading down at 14.90 earlier in the day. While a reading below 20 is still considered normal volatility, it’s worth noting the VIX’s jump corresponded with tariff comments from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The Dow was down 236 points, or 0.5%, in Friday trading. The S&P 500 was down 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note spiked to 4.55%.
Leavitt pushed back against a report from Reuters that said the Trump administration was planning to put tariffs on Mexico and Canada into place starting March 1. Instead, Leavitt said 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would begin Saturday. They’ll be paired with a 10% tariff on China.
Leavitt said details about tariffs will be released in the next 24 hours. She was not able to confirm if certain imports like oil could be exempted. She said the tariffs are in response to fentanyl being allowed to enter the U.S. and killing tens millions of Americans.
The VIX, which is a measure of implied volatility in the S&P 500, had been subdued in recent days. But the threat of tariffs, and the uncertainty surrounding their actual implementation could be a challenge for the market going forward.
