Trump's 90-day tariff pause isn't enough to stop the stock market falling further
Good morning. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the termination of IT and consulting contracts with companies like Accenture and Deloitte, saying the contracts represent "$5.1 billion in wasteful spending." Hegseth also said he was terminating contracts that support "non-essential" activities, like DEI, climate matters, and the Pentagon's COVID-19 response. Read the full story .
In today's newsletter, Goldman Sachs sees more pain ahead for the stock market — and China just retaliated to US tariffs , again.
What's on deck
Markets: The dollar and Treasurys are nosediving in the 'Sell America' trade.
Tech: Amazon will pay higher prices to some vendors to offset tariffs impact — but with a catch .
Business: President Trump's tariff reprieve only means more uncertainty for CEOs .
But first, it's not over.
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The big story
The tariff saga continues
It might not have been enough. Goldman Sachs warned on Thursday morning that Trump's 90-day tariff pause is unlikely to stop the stock market falling further. They were proven correct almost immediately .
US indexes were back in sell-off mode, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 2,181 points at its intraday low before paring gains ahead of the close.
Goldman Sachs' equity drawdown risk model, which bases its probability of further market downside on a handful of indicators, recently spiked past 35% on both a three-month and a 12-month horizon. That's a strong signal that the S&P 500 is headed for further declines, the bank wrote in a note.
Analysts said several factors, including policy uncertainty and recent volatility, had raised the risk of more downside. Here's what Goldman is watching .
Wall Street still sees the tariffs as bad news.
Investors are particularly concerned about the escalating trade war between the US and China — which did not get a reprieve from Trump. The US's tariff rate against Chinese imports is now 145%.
Early this morning, China hit back again , announcing it will raise tariffs on all US goods from 84% to 125% starting on April 12.
That could further hurt companies like Tesla. Since Wednesday, the automaker has received three price target cuts from Wall Street firms , all predicting that higher costs due to tariffs will weigh on the business.
3 things in markets
1. Greenback blues . Investors are selling off US dollars and Treasurys , once considered safe assets, as the trade war ratchets up economic uncertainty. Ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said on Wednesday that the US is being treated as if it were a "problematic emerging market."
