- Global markets plummeted after Trump announced sweeping tariffs on all trading partners.
- Wall Street is already hurting after its worst quarter since 2022 amid tariff whiplash.
- Gold hit new highs as investors looked for safe havens amid the uncertain impact of an escalating trade war.
Global markets tumbled Wednesday after President Donald Trump unveiled his long-anticipated tariffs in an address at the White House Rose Garden, sending shockwaves through stock indexes and hammering shares of companies reliant on global supply chains.
US stock futures, which indicate the direction of the market once regular trading commences on Thursday, reacted instantly. S&P 500 futures dropped 3.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures tumbled more than 4.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures cratered as much as 1,000 points.
Fueled by anxiety over Trump's often on-again, off-again tariff policy, Wall Street is already licking its wounds after wrapping up the worst quarter since 2022.
The market climbed slightly ahead of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, with investors eyeing the potential for a milder approach to trade policy. But they were caught off guard by the scope of a blanket 10% tariff on all trading partners, alongside what Trump labeled as "kind reciprocal" tariffs exceeding 20% on some countries.
Share of companies reliant on global supply chains were hit hard.
In after-hours trading, shares of Apple Walmart, and Nike dropped 7%, while Amazon fell 6%. Nvidia, which relies on overseas manufacturing for some of its advanced chips, was down almost 6%.
Regarding the after-hours market reaction, CNBC host Jon Fortt said he had "never seen anything like it."
"This — I think, fair to say — is worse than the worst-case scenario of the tariffs that many in the market expected the president to impose," said Fortt.
Gold hit a new record of nearly $3,160 an ounce as bullion — one of the few commodities exempted from the tariffs, according to a White House factsheet — rose as much as 0.8% at Thursday's open in Asia. Investors have flocked to the precious metal in 2025 in a flight to safety amid rising macroeconomic uncertainty.
Mexico and Canada were not hit with any fresh tariffs, though previous ones remain in place. Goods from Mexico and Canada that meet the requirements of the USMCA trade agreement will also generally still be exempt from tariffs, with the exception of auto imports, as well as steel and aluminum, which are subject to earlier tariffs implemented in March.
It's unclear how the administration calculated the tariffs other countries impose on the US, or if the tariffs are truly "reciprocal." There is no official record showing the European Union has a 39% tariff on US goods, or that Japan has a 46% duty on products from the US, among the dozens of other figures unveiled Wednesday.
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