U.S. stocks whipped through another dizzying day on Wednesday in the final hours before U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled the tariffs promised as part of his “Liberation Day,” which could drastically alter the global economy.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent, but only after careening between an earlier loss of 1.1 per cent and a later gain of 1.1 per cent. It’s had a pattern this week of opening with sharp drops, only to finish the day higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 235 points, or 0.6 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 per cent. Both also veered from sharply lower in the morning to sharply higher in the afternoon before doubling back.
Canada’s main stock index, the S&P/TSX Composite, saw some dips throughout the day but predominantly moved up, adding 273.90 points, or 1.09 per cent.
Elon Musk’s Tesla helped knock the market around after initially falling more than six per cent following a report that it delivered fewer electric vehicles in the first three months of the year than it did in last year’s first quarter.
Tesla is one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of its immense size, and it’s faced backlash due to anger over Musk’s leading the U.S. government’s efforts to cut spending. But its stock erased its loss from the morning and ended with a gain of 5.3 per cent following a report from Politico that Trump has told others that Musk will step back from his government role in coming weeks.
Financial markets around the world have broadly been shaky lately because of uncertainty about what Trump will announce on Wednesday — but the timing of Trump’s announcement, after the closing of most markets, means stocks won’t show the full impact until Thursday.
The U.S. president confirmed in his address on Wednesday afternoon that a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made automobiles would go into effect at midnight. He also outlined global tariffs, placing a minimum baseline tariff of 10 per cent on all goods and specifying that some countries will be required to pay even higher fees.
Canada was not included on a list of countries whose goods face the retaliatory tariffs announced on Wednesday when they enter the U.S. The full details are expected to be clarified in the wording of the executive order that Trump is signing this afternoon.
Trump referred to Wednesday as an “important day,” calling it the country’s “declaration of economic independence.” He has claimed previously that tariffs would bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and make global trade fairer. But tariffs could also grind down growth for the U.S. and other economies, as well as upend supply chains and throw regular global trading rhythms into disarray.
Surveys have shown deepening pessimism, but economists are waiting to see if that translates into actual damage for the economy.
On Wall Street, Newsmax, a conservative cable news outlet, fell 73.4 per cent in its third day of trading to give back some of the meteoric gains from its debut at the start of the week. It surged 735 per cent Monday and then another 179 per cent on Tuesday.
Several airlines, meanwhile, flew higher to recover some of the sharp losses taken recently on worries that tariff-weary customers will fly less. United Airlines climbed 3.6 per cent.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.
