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Wall Street Tumbles, Dollar Crashes, Gold Hits Record Highs As Inflation Cools More Than Predicted: What's Driving Markets Thursday

Benzinga·04/10/2025 16:45:14
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After a spectacular risk-on rally on Wednesday, Wall Street sharply pulled back during Thursday's trading, as investors digested the 90-day tariff pause and weighed lingering economic risks to the outlook.

Even a sharply lower-than-expected inflation report did little to support risk sentiment — a testament to how susceptible investors remain to economic uncertainty.

The Consumer Price Index fell from 2.8% year-over-year in February to 2.4% in March, below expectations of 2.6% and marking the lowest reading since September 2024. On a monthly basis, inflation was negative by 0.1% — the first decline since May 2020.

While the data bolstered the case for near-term Fed rate cuts — markets are pricing in an 88% chance of a 0.25% move by June — traders remained cautious amid the ongoing tariff drama.

Read Also: Inflation Cools, But ‘Too Soon To Blow The All Clear,’ Economist Says

The S&P 500 dropped 4.8% by midday in New York, erasing about half of Wednesday's historic gains, which had marked the index’s strongest rally since 2008. The Nasdaq 100 tumbled 5.4%, while small caps in the Russell 2000 sank 5.3%.

Despite the pullback in equities, traditional safe havens like Treasuries and the dollar also fell, raising concerns about waning international confidence in U.S. assets.

The U.S. dollar index — as tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF (NYSE:UUP) — nosedived 2% to the 101 level, its lowest since late September 2024.

Yields on 30-year Treasuries surged by 11 basis points to 4.85%, as bond vigilantes appeared to reassert themselves —effectively flashing red signals in Washington.

Meanwhile, gold continued to deliver stellar returns, with bullion hitting fresh record highs of $3,175 per ounce, up 2.4% on the day. Over the past two sessions, gold has rallied nearly 6%, the biggest two-day gain since March 2020.

On Thursday, the White House announced that the actual tariff rate on Chinese imports will be 145%. Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget plan extending the Trump-era tax cuts. Trump welcomed the news, saying it laid the groundwork for what he called "the largest tax and regulation cuts” in American history.

Thursday’s Performance In Major Indices, ETFs

Major Indices Price Chg
Dow Jones 38,976.38 -4.0%
S&P 500 5,193.60 -4.8%
Russell 2000 1,810.18 -5.3%
Nasdaq 100 18,119.84 -5.4%
Updated by 12:05 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

  • The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) fell 5.2% to $517.46.
  • The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) fell 4% to $389.66.
  • The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) sunk 5.5% to $440.99.
  • The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) tumbled 5.3% to $179.66.
  • S&P 500 sectors with largest drops were Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE), down 6.7%; Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK), down 6% and Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY), down 5.8%.

Thursday’s Stocks Movers

  • There were only 22 gainers within the S&P 500, with Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM) rallying 3.3%, amid rising gold prices.
  • Major losers included CarMax Inc. (NYSE:KMX) down 20%, Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP), down 14%, and Celanese Corp. (NYSE:CE), down 14%.
  • Magnificent Seven were all trading deeply in negative territory, with the group shedding nearly a trillion of combined market value.

Top U.S. Tech Stocks by Market Cap Loss – April 10, 2025

  • NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
    Market Cap Loss: $209.24 billion
    Daily Change: -7.50%
  • Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
    Market Cap Loss: $181.32 billion
    Daily Change: -6.07%
  • Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
    Market Cap Loss: $129.62 billion
    Daily Change: -6.40%
  • Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
    Market Cap Loss: $124.82 billion
    Daily Change: -4.30%
  • Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
    Market Cap Loss: $102.56 billion
    Daily Change: -6.91%
  • Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
    Market Cap Loss: $87.47 billion
    Daily Change: -9.99%
  • Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
    Market Cap Loss: $79.85 billion
    Daily Change: -4.10%

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Photo: Shutterstock Professional via Shutterstock