Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trade featured a negative bias. Market participants were grappling with the same themes that have been in play of late: growth concerns and tariff uncertainty. 

The trade war heated up after 25% tariffs for Canada and Mexico went into effect today and tariffs on China increased by 10% to 20%, and the countries announced subsequent retaliatory measures. 

Growth concerns also remain top of mind following earnings and guidance from Target (TGT 117.14, -3.62, -3.0%) and Best Buy (BBY 75.20, -11.54, -13.3%). The companies warned that price increases are likely, which may impact consumer demand and lead to lower growth in earnings and in the economy. Target's CEO also highlighted that the consumer has been cautious already. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average settled 1.6% lower; the S&P 500 dropped 1.2%; and the Nasdaq Composite registered a 0.4% decline. There was some mid-day improvement, however, that coincided with the S&P 500 approaching its 200-day moving average (5,725).

The Nasdaq Composite traded above its prior close at its best level of the session, boosted by gains in some mega cap names, before selling increased again. NVIDIA (NVDA 115.99, +1.93, +1.7%) was helpful in that respect, recovering from a 3.4% decline at its low. 

Other mega caps that participated in the upside ride returned to negative territory as the afternoon rally met selling interest. Amazon.com (AMZN 203.80, -1.22, -0.6%) was among them, trading up as much as 0.9% after bouncing off its 200-day moving average (198). 

Ultimately, ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors logged declines. The heavily-weighted financial sector, which houses 14.7% of the S&P 500 in terms of market capitalization, sank 3.5%. Six other sectors declined more than 1.0%.

There was no US economic data of note today.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.1% YTD
• S&P 500: -1.8% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: -4.6% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: -5.3%
• Russell 2000: -6.8% YTD

Looking ahead to Wednesday, market participants receive the following economic data:

• 7:00 ET: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior -1.2%)
• 8:15 ET: February ADP Employment Change (Briefing.com consensus 145,000; prior 183,000)
• 9:45 ET: Final February S&P Global U.S. Services PMI (prior 49.7)
• 10:00 ET: February ISM Services (Briefing.com consensus 53.0%; prior 52.8%) and January Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus 1.3%; prior -0.9%)
• 10:30 ET: Weekly crude oil inventories (prior -2.33 mln)