Stock Market Today: Stocks lower amid tariff uncertainty, hiring slump
Last night the S&P 500 closed below the level it traded on Election Day, extending its 2025 decline to around 1.55%.
U.S. stocks turned lower in early Wednesday trading, while the dollar sank to a three-month low against its global peers, as investors reacted to a potential compromise on tariffs while adjusting to a seismic change in German fiscal policy that will likely reverberate around the entire region.
Updated at 11:24 AM EST
Crude realities
Global oil prices are trading at the lowest levels in four years, with U.S. crude testing the $65 per barrel mark, following a move by OPEC cartel members to boost supply and slowing demand tied to tariffs and economic uncertainty.
"The prospect of rising OPEC+ supply, combined with intensifying uncertainty over tariffs, hit oil market sentiment," said ING's head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson. "Overnight, there were suggestions that the Trump administration is considering some tariff relief on imports from Canada and Mexico. But heightened uncertainty is sending investors to the sidelines."
Brent crude futures contracts for May delivery, the global pricing benchmark, were last marked $2.42 lower on the session at $68.63 per barrel, with WTI futures for April down $2.76 at $65.50 per barrel.
As brent crude plunges to its lowest level since Dec 2021, EURUSD having its best 3-day gain in almost a decade pic.twitter.com/4P4usaNQXN— Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT
