A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 11, 2025.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stocks slipped Tuesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and watched for signs of progress in global trade deals.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 304 points, or 0.7%. The S&P 500 shed 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2%.
The Fed is widely expected to keep rates steady on Wednesday, with Fed Funds futures trading suggests just a 2.7% chance of the central bank cutting rates. Still, traders will be listening for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on his economic outlook.
Tariff uncertainty continues to weigh on the markets. Trump is scheduled for meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, marking the start of negotiations between the two leaders since since Carney assumed office earlier this year.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday that “we’re very close to some deals,” echoing comments from Trump on Sunday that agreements could come as early as this week. A Bloomberg report citing people familiar said that India has proposed zero tariffs on certain goods.
Nonetheless, no official trade deals between the U.S. and its trading partners have yet been announced. While data issued on Monday from the Institute for Supply Management showed stronger-than-anticipated service sector activity in April, concerns around tariffs lingered.
“We’ll probably go down to new lows, even when Trump dials back China to 50%,” billionaire hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC on Tuesday.” “He’ll dial it back to 50% or 40%, whatever. Even when he does that … it’d be the largest tax increases since the 60s. So you can kind of take 2%, 3% off growth.”
During Monday’s session, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to snap its nine-day rally — its longest winning streak since 2004. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%, while the Dow slipped 0.2%.
