US stocks on Tuesday shrugged off President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, with two major indexes securing fresh records.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose nearly 0.6% to nab a record close, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also jumped about 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) reversed earlier losses to finish the day up around 0.3% as it reclaimed another back-to-back record.
The index had been under pressure for most of the day after drugmaker Amgen (AMGN) tumbled as much as 12% on weight-loss data that failed to impress Wall Street. Shares pared losses by the end of the trading session, closing down around 5%.
Markets were initially caught off guard by Trump’s pledge late Monday to slap big tariffs on the US’s biggest trading partners on his first day in office. His comments fired up trade war fears and dented Wall Street’s hopes that Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent would rein in any extreme moves by the new administration.
Carmaker stocks, both domestic and abroad, fell on the heels of Trump’s “America First” push. Nissan (7201.T) and Honda Motor (HMC), which have auto plants in Mexico, came under pressure, along with Ford (F), General Motors (GM), and Stellantis (STLA).
Outside of possible tariffs, investors also digested the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting ended Nov. 7, which showed officials prefer a gradual pace of interest rate cuts if the economy remains on solid footing.
“Participants anticipated that if the data came in about as expected, with inflation continuing to move down sustainably to 2% and the economy remaining near maximum employment, it would likely be appropriate to move gradually toward a more neutral stance of policy over time,” the minutes read.
Some officials noted that a resurgence of inflation, which has remained sticky, along with a downturn in the labor market, could force the central bank to pause its easing cycle.
The release sets the stage for the October reading of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, on Wednesday.