US markets end deeply in red after President Trump says he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries

08 Feb 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended deeply in red on Friday after the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment has unexpectedly deteriorated in February amid a surge by year-ahead inflation expectations. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index slumped to 67.8 in February after rising to 71.1 in January. Street had expected the index to inch up to 72.0. With the unexpected decrease, the consumer sentiment index dropped to its lowest level since hitting 66.4 in July 2024. The deterioration by consumer sentiment came as year-ahead inflation expectations spiked to 4.3 percent in February from 3.3 percent in January, reaching the highest level since November 2023.

Besides, markets saw downside after President Donald Trump said he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries next week, with the U.S. imposing tariffs on imports equal to the rates imposed on American exports. Traders were also reacting to mixed U.S. jobs data, with a closely watched Labor Department report showing weaker than expected job growth in January but an unexpected decrease by the unemployment rate. The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 143,000 jobs in January compared to street estimates for an increase of about 170,000 jobs. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dipped to 4.0 percent in January from 4.1 percent in December. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 444.23 points or 0.99 percent to 44,303.4, Nasdaq dropped 268.59 points or 1.36 percent to 19,523.4 and S&P 500 was down by 57.58 points or 0.95 percent to 6,025.99. 


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