News

Stock market craters

Apr 4, 2025 - 22:00

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Business & Economy

The Big Story

Dow plunges 2,231 points as Trump tariffs cause frenzy

The stock market cratered Friday as concerns about the economic impact of President Trump’s new tariffs shook Wall Street for yet another day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 2,231 points Friday, plunging 5.5 percent on the day. The S&P 500 index plummeted by 6 percent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 5.8 percent on the day.

Friday marked the second day of serious losses for the stock market since Trump's Wednesday afternoon announcement of up to $600 billion in new import taxes.

The scale and scope of Trump's tariffs shocked investors, who had already been selling off stocks in anticipation of a global slowdown.

The Dow is now down roughly 15 percent from a record high of 45,073 set in December, the S&P 500 is down 17.4 percent from a record high set in February and the Nasdaq is down a staggering 23 percent from its December closing record.

Trump said Friday on Truth Social that investors should buy low in the market and has expressed continued confidence in his agenda.

While several of his officials defended his policies publicly Friday, Trump has not offered a public comment. He is in Florida and was on the golf course Friday.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Aris Folley — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Essential Reads

Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:

Trump urges Fed to cut rates as tariffs cause stock plunge

President Trump urged the Federal Reserve on Friday to cut interest rates and ripped the head of the independent central bank as new tariffs caused stocks to plunge.

Full Story

Powell warns Trump tariffs, risks are ‘significantly larger than expected’

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that the size and potential economic harm of President Trump’s new tariffs were far larger than anticipated, raising new challenges as the bank attempts to end its inflation fight.

Full Story

Thune faces GOP divisions on critical budget resolution

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) faces a number of divisions among Senate Republicans that could derail the Senate budget resolution, a measure that will be critical to passing President Trump’s legislative agenda later this year.

Full Story

Tax Watch

Senate budget calls for fraction of cuts sought by House

The Senate voted Thursday to advance its budget resolution, setting up a weekend vote for the upper chamber’s precursor bill for Republicans’ mainline tax cut and spending legislation.

While the analogous House budget resolution calls for $2 trillion in spending cuts to help offset the $4.6 trillion price tag of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, the Senate’s version calls for just $4 billion in cuts to give them more flexibility when it comes to writing to the eventual bill.

The Senate’s agriculture, labor, energy and banking committees are each instructed to shed at least $1 billion in spending while other committees are given dispensation to increase spending by hundreds of billions.

While the House and the Senate eventually need to agree on the same budget resolution before they can proceed with the reconciliation process that will allow them to pass a party line vote on the final bill, senators do not sound concerned by the outstanding differences they have now with the House.

“We’ll make it as beautiful as we can make it. If it’s still ugly at the end, it’s better than not doing it. We’ll pass it, and then we’ll start on another one,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “We’ll deal with that realizing that we have two more opportunities for two more budgets yet this term.”

— Tobias Burns

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The Ticker

Upcoming news themes and events we're watching:

The National Federation of Independent Business' (NFIB) latest Small Business Optimism Index is set for release Tuesday at 6 am EDT.

Good to Know

Business and economic news we've flagged from other outlets:

Here’s what could soon cost you a lot more because of Trump’s massive tariffs (CNN)
Think twice before bailing out of the stock market, financial advisers say (The Associated Press)

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