US close: Stocks lower as Trump's tariff threats return to focus

(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed lower on Thursday following earnings from AI-darling Nvidia overnight and an update from Donald Trump regarding his proposed tariffs on a number of America's largest trading partners.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.45% at 43,239.50, while the S&P 500 lost 1.59% to 5,861.57 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.78% weaker at 18,544.42.

The Dow closed 193.62 points lower on Thursday, taking a significant bite out of gains recorded in the previous session.

Trump said on Thursday that his proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada would come into effect on 4 March and also stated that Chinese imports would be hit with an additional 10% tariff. Trump's sweeping 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada were put on a one-month pause back on 3 February.

He also said China, which has already been slapped with a 10% tariff on its products, will be charged an additional 10% tariff and added, that the April Second Reciprocal Tariff date "will remain in full force and effect". However, Trump's claims contradicted comments made by National Economic Council director Kevin Hasset, who said the president would make a decision on tariffs "for all countries" after evaluating a study set to take place on 1 April.

On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated clip in the week ended 22 February, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims surged by 22,000 to 242,000 last week, the biggest increase in more than two months and far above expectations for a broadly flat reading of 221,000, while continuing claims eased by 5,000 at 1.86m. The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out week-to-week volatility, increased by 8,500 week-on-week to 224,000.

On another note, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the US economy grew at an unrevised 2.3% year-on-year clip in Q4, unchanged from advanced estimates but down from Q3's 3.1% annualised growth.

Still on data, the National Association of Realtors pending home sales index decreased by 4.6% year-on-year in January to a record low of 70.6, far bigger than the 1.3% fall predicted by economists. Pending home sales dropped 5.2% following December's 5% drop.

Finally, the Kansas Federal Reserve's manufacturing production index fell to -13 in February, the lowest reading in five months.

In the corporate space, Nvidia shed more than 8% even after the chipmaker beat fourth-quarter estimates on both the top and bottom lines and issued strong forward guidance, pointing to continued demand despite the emergence of Chinese competitor DeepSeek, while Salesforce shares headed south following disappointing Q4 revenues and a softer-than-expected outlook.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $254.79 2.39%

3M Co. (MMM) $150.52 2.10%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $309.95 1.87%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.23 1.72%

Visa Inc. (V) $355.74 1.46%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $90.58 1.34%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $468.56 1.07%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $156.67 0.99%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $96.79 0.61%

Boeing Co. (BA) $173.83 0.46%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $294.90 -4.04%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.09 -1.83%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $392.53 -1.80%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $608.20 -1.58%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $80.02 -1.42%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $237.30 -1.27%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $38.43 -1.08%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $253.23 -1.02%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $340.00 -0.75%

American Express Co. (AXP) $294.20 -0.64%

S&P 500 - Risers

Unum Group (UNM) $81.72 5.75%

Allstate Corp (The) (ALL) $195.06 3.52%

FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $28.81 3.30%

Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $186.06 3.30%

Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) $144.55 3.12%

Chubb Corp. (CB) $281.69 2.93%

RTX Corporation (RTX) $130.52 2.52%

Humana Inc. (HUM) $261.48 2.50%

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $58.80 2.47%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $254.79 2.39%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Teleflex Inc. (TFX) $139.11 -21.69%

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $35.86 -12.71%

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $38.54 -10.48%

Macerich Co (MAC) $18.32 -8.95%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $17.15 -8.83%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $120.15 -8.48%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $63.48 -8.19%

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $105.11 -7.25%

Apache Corp. (APA) $20.42 -7.22%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $197.80 -7.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $1,353.46 1.73%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.23 1.72%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $359.04 1.57%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $111.99 1.39%

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $114.49 1.32%

Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $63.98 0.84%

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $35.39 0.83%

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $231.58 0.81%

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $290.11 0.72%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $8.75 0.57%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $17.15 -8.83%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $120.15 -8.48%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $63.48 -8.19%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $197.80 -7.11%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $156.64 -7.04%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $697.70 -6.59%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $76.17 -6.31%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $91.82 -6.03%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $88.97 -5.40%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $699.16 -5.33%