The US markets ended in red on Monday as markets grapple with the uncertain trade tariff environment following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down President Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs. Trump announced that he would be raising worldwide tariffs to the fully allowed and legally tested 15 percent level from the 10 percent he announced shortly after the ruling. Traders remained cautious as a report released by the Commerce Department showed that new orders for U.S. manufactured goods pulled back in line with expectations in the month of December. The Commerce Department said factory orders slid by 0.7 percent in December after surging by 2.7 percent in November. The decrease matched street estimates. The pullback by factory orders came as durable goods orders slumped by 1.4 percent in December after spiking by 5.4 percent in November.
On the sectorial front, financial stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, with the KBW Bank Index and the NYSE Arca Securities Broker/Dealer Index plunging by 4.4 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. Substantial weakness was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 3.9 percent nosedive by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 821.91 points or 1.66 percent to 48,804.06, Nasdaq decreased 258.79 points or 1.13 percent to 22,627.27 and S&P 500 slipped 71.76 points or 1.04 percent to 6,837.75.
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