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The first full trading week in April was chaotic as markets swung wildly any time news about tariffs was released. On Monday, the indexes had their largest daily range since March 2020 after a report came out saying that Donald Trump was considering a 90-day pause on most tariffs. Markets rallied after the report came out and then fell again after it was revealed that the report was not correct.

However, on Wednesday, it was announced that Trump was putting a 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs. The 10 percent flat tariff on all countries remains in effect while China was hit with a tariff of up to 145 percent. Existing tariffs on goods coming to the United States from Mexico and Canada also remained in place. News of the pause caused indexes to rally as much as 10 percent, which marked one of the best days for equities since World War II.
Although tariff talk dominated the market this week, they were not the only thing that moved prices. On Thursday, inflation data for the month and year were made public. In March, inflation actually fell by .1 percent compared to an expected increase of .1 percent. On an annualized basis, inflation was 2.4 percent compared to a predicted 2.5 percent.

Also on Thursday, unemployment claim data for the last seven days was made public, and during the past week, 223,000 people sought benefits, which was in line with analyst predictions.

On Friday, the Price Producers Index (PPI) came out and found that prices were down .4 percent in March. Core PPI was down .1 percent compared to an expected increase of .3 percent. Finally on Friday, the University of Michigan released its consumer sentiment and inflation expectations report. Consumer sentiment came in at 50.8, which was the lowest in several years. Meanwhile, respondents expect the inflation rate to soar to 6.7 percent in the next 12 months.

The S&P 500 had flirted with bear market territory early in the week as it opened at 4,883 on Monday morning. This would be the low of the week as it made a massive move to the upside on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, the market hit its high of the week at 5,459. For the week, the index gained 477 points, which is an increase of 9.78 percent from Monday’s open.

The Dow also started the week at its lowest point opening at 36,751 on Monday morning. It would also make a significant move to the upside on Tuesday and Wednesday hitting a high of 40,586. On Friday, the market closed at 40,212, which was an increase of 9.39 percent from Monday’s opening price.

Finally, the Nasdaq followed the other two major indexes lower to start the week. On Monday, the market opened at 14,845 before making significant gains the next few days. By Wednesday afternoon, the index roared to a high of 17,107 before reversing to close at 16,724, which was a gain of 12.57 percent from Monday’s opening.

In international news, the European Union (EU) and China both imposed retaliatory tariffs on the United States. The EU has paused those tariffs after Trump paused the tariffs against countries in that bloc.

The upcoming week is sure to be another interesting one as there are several news announcements on the schedule. Retail sales data is due to be released on Wednesday while unemployment claims data comes out on Thursday. Jerome Powell will speak on Wednesday afternoon, which is almost certainly going to gin up some market volatility.

Although this was a nonfarm payroll week, the first few trading days in April were dominated by the fallout from new tariffs being levied. On Thursday and Friday, markets in the United States and around the globe lost ground after few countries were spared from what some are fearing could turn into a prolonged trade war.

Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam and Cambodia were among the hardest hit facing tariffs of 46 percent and 49 percent respectively. Sri Lanka, Laos and Myanmar also face reciprocal tariffs of more than 40 percent. It has been theorized that these nations were targeted because major American companies make clothes and other goods there before importing them into the United States.

Retailers such as Nike, Target and Restoration Hardware saw shares lose 10 percent or more of their value in the second half of the week. Nintendo announced that it was delaying the release of the Switch 2 while it has been reported that tariffs could push the price of an Apple iPhone to more than $2,300. Apple was another company that saw its stock price tumble by more than 10 percent this week.

Despite tariffs being the talk of the market all week, the jobs report was also significant in its own right. On Wednesday, the ADP nonfarm payroll figure came in at 155,000, which beat analyst estimates of 118,000. The ADP figure for February was revised upward to 84,000.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its own version of the report, and Friday’s number also beat market expectations. The BLS found that 228,000 new jobs were created as opposed to a projected 137,000. However, the February report was revised lower to 117,000 jobs created during that month. In addition, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent while average hourly earnings increased .3 percent on a monthly basis.

Jerome Powell spoke on Friday afternoon and provided some insight into how tariffs might impact monetary policy. Primarily, he said that tariffs could result in higher levels of inflation over a longer period of time. Initially, he said that inflation would be transitory. Regardless, markets are still pricing in one or two rate cuts this year on expectations that tariffs could suppress demand and cause a recession.

The S&P 500 lost 6.3 percent this week to close at 5,074. On Wednesday afternoon, the high of the week was put in place when the market reached 5,682, and it would make its low of the week on Friday near its closing price. After breaching 6,000 earlier this year, the S&P is now down almost 14 percent this month and is down about 1.5 percent over the past 12 months.

The Dow lost 5.89 percent this week to close at 38,314. As with the S&P, the Dow made its high of the week on Wednesday when it hit 42,351 and closed near its weekly low established on Friday. For the month, the Dow is down 12.28 percent and is down about .75 percent over the last 12 months.

Finally, the Nasdaq lost 7.54 percent to close at 15,587 at the end of the trading week. As with the other two major indexes, the market made its peak on Wednesday afternoon before nosediving on the backside of the week. The weekly high was 17,701 while the market closed near its weekly low established on Friday. For the month, the index has lost nearly 17 percent while it is down almost 3 percent over the past 12 months.

Next week will be the first full trading week of April, and there is sure to be a lot for market participants to keep an eye on. Inflation data for March is expected to be released on Thursday while the Price Producers Index will be released on Friday. The University of Michigan will release its consumer sentiment and inflation expectation report that same day.

The final full week of March contained a significant amount of intrigue as President Trump is scheduled to implement new tariffs on April 2. In addition to the anticipation surrounding that event, there were a variety of scheduled news events that helped to fuel market volatility.

On Monday, the Flash Services PMI and Flash Services PMI were released and showed a familiar picture regarding economic activity. The Flash Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.8 percent compared to an expected 51.9 percent. Although this month’s figure came in lower than expected, last month’s figure was revised upward to 52.7 percent. Therefore, it’s possible that the manufacturing sector will still be in an expansion phase when the February number is updated in a few weeks.

The Flash Services PMI came in at 54.3 percent, which was higher than the expected 51 percent. Last month’s figure was also revised upward to 51 percent, which means that demand for services refuses to wain even as consumer confidence weakens.

Two consumer confidence reports were issued this week showing a downward trend in sentiment. On Tuesday, the CB Consumer Confidence report came in at 92.9, which was roughly seven points lower than February. On Friday, the University of Michigan released its own report that came in at 57, which was lower than the projected 57.9.

On Thursday, the final gross domestic product figure for the final quarter of 2024 was released. During those three months, the economy expanded by 2.4 percent, which was slightly higher than the expected expansion of 2.3 percent. Unemployment claims figures were also made public Thursday morning, and over the past seven days, there were 224,000 requests for benefits. This was essentially in line with what analysts expected.

On Friday, the Core PCE Price Index for February was released, and during that period, prices increased by .4 percent. Analysts had expected prices to have increased by .3 percent. This is the preferred inflation gauge used by the Federal Reserve when calibrating monetary policy. Of course, Jerome Powell has already said that he expects a temporary period of inflation, so it’s unlikely to have a short-term impact on interest rates.

The S&P 500 lost 2.53 percent over the last five trading days to finish the week at 5,580. This was a loss of 145 points for a market that has lost 300 points since the beginning of the year. On Tuesday, the index made its high of the week when it touched 5,783 before reversing and trending lower on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The low of the week came on Friday afternoon when the index dipped to 5,574.

As with the S&P, the Dow also finished in the red this week losing 800 points to close Friday’s trading at 41,583. Also like the S&P, the Dow is down for the year having lost a little over 960 points since the beginning of the year. The index made its high of the week on Wednesday morning when it reached 42,793. The low of the week occurred on Friday afternoon when the index dipped to 41,538.

Finally, the Nasdaq also lost ground this week, closing Friday 3.91 percent lower to finish at 17,322. For the year, the Nasdaq has lost over 1,900 points, which is just over 10 percent. This week, the market made its high on Tuesday afternoon when it touched 18,271 before reversing and giving up ground on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. As with the other indexes, the Nasdaq hit its low of the week on Friday afternoon when it dipped to 17,305.

In international news, Great Britain announced Friday that retail sales were up 1 percent over the past month compared to an expected drop of .3 percent. Canada announced Friday morning that its GDP grew by .4 percent on a monthly basis in February. Finally, Australia announced early in the week that its CPI figure grew by 2.4 percent compared to an expected 2.5 percent on an annualized basis.

The upcoming week will likely be a volatile one as nonfarm payroll reports come out on Wednesday and Friday. The fallout from the new tariffs as well as other data such as unemployment claims and the JOLTS jobs report will likely be important to keep an eye on.