Wall Street closed lower once again following the announcement of 104% tariffs on Chinese imports

The financial market closed lower againthis Tuesday, with a considerable weakening of the dollar and oil prices, after thetrade war between the United States and China escalated, with President Donald Trump announcing the entry into force of 104 % tariffs on imports from the Asian country. The news of this decision increased market concerns about a considerable rise in inflation and a sharp slowdown in growth.

Thus, theS&P 500 fell 1.57 %, or 79.48 points, to 4,982.77; while the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.15 %, or 335.35 points, to 15.267.91; and the Dow Jones declined 0.84 %, or 320.01 points, to 37,645.59 points. Meanwhile,the MSCI global equity index was down 0.34 %, or 2.52 points, to 742.96; while the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 2.72 %. Also, the dollar index, which measures the value of the U.S. dollar against a variety of currencies including the euro and the yen, fell 0.48 %, to 102.92. Similarly, oil prices closed lower, with Brent falling to $62.82 per barrelafter losing $1.39; and West Texas Intermediate closing at $59.58 per barrelafter falling $1.12.

Sharp drop

The numbers presented by the S&P 500 during the market close represent a forceful fall, taking into account that it is the first time in almost a year that, on Wall Street, the famous stock index comprising the 500 largest companies in the United States closed below 5,000 points. While S&P 500 shares had risen significantly at the start of Tuesday on investor optimism that the White House would be willing to negotiate several of its most aggressive tariffs, the numbers presented during the market close were very different.

Since the Republican leader announced his tariffs against 180 countries and territoriesaround the world last Wednesday night, companies in this stock indexhave lost nearly $6 trillion in market value, representing a record four-day drop for the S&P 500 since its founding.