WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After ending Monday's volatile session mostly lower, stocks saw continued weakness during trading on Tuesday. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, pulling back further off last Friday's one-month closing highs.
The major averages finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow slumped 389.83 points or 1.0 percent to 40,829.00, the Nasdaq slid 154.58 points or 0.9 percent to 17,689.66 and the S&P 500 fell 43.37 points or 0.8 percent to 5,606.91.
Ongoing trade uncertainty continued to weigh on the markets following recent strength, which saw the S&P 500 close higher for nine straight sessions before yesterday's pullback.
While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday the U.S. is 'very close to some deals,' the lack of any concrete developments from trade talks has kept investors on edge.
During a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the media's repeated questions about when the U.S. will sign new trade deals even as he claimed he 'could sign 25 deals right now.'
'I wish they'd ... stop asking how many deals are you signing this week?' Trump said. 'Because one day we'll come and we'll give you 100 deals.'
In trade-related economic news, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing the U.S. trade deficit spiked by much more than expected in the month of March.
The report said the trade deficit soared to a record high $140.5 billion in March from a revised $123.2 billion in February.
Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $129.0 billion from the $122.7 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The much bigger than expected trade deficit came as the value of imports surged by 4.4 percent to $419.0 billion, while the value of exports crept up by 0.2 percent to $278.5 billion.
The weakness on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement Wednesday afternoon.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 96.8 percent chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.
Sector News
Biotechnology stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index plunging by 5.1 percent after ending the Monday's trading at its best closing level in a month.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) helped lead the sector lower, plummeting by 10.0 percent after reporting weaker than expected first quarter results.
Considerable weakness was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index.
Healthcare, transportation and housing stocks also saw notable weakness, while gold stocks extended Monday's rally amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Tuesday, with markets in Japan and South Korea closed for holidays. China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.1 percent, while India's Nifty 50 Index dipped by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended the day nearly unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved to the upside as the day progressed after showing a lack of direction in morning trading. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.5 basis points to 4.308 percent.
Looking Ahead
The Fed's monetary policy announcement is likely to be in the spotlight on Wednesday amid another relatively quiet day on the U.S. economic front.
On the earnings front, chip maker Advance Micro Devices (AMD) is among the companies reporting their quarterly results after the close of today's trading,
Entertainment giant Disney (DIS) is also among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading on Wednesday.
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