US stocks fell on Wednesday after Nvidia (NVDA) revealed costly new curbs on chip exports to China, and investors grappled with uncertainty over President Trump’s trade policy.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped more than 1% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed more than 200 points, or around 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell over 1.9% as the new chip provisions weighed on the tech sector.
As of 9:56:23 AM EDT. Market Open.
^GSPC ^IXIC ^DJI
Nvidia’s stock took a hit early, falling more than 5% after the company revealed that the US government has imposed new restrictions on its chips.
A new filing from Nvidia on Tuesday showed that the US government has required licenses for exports to China of the company’s H20 artificial intelligence chip. The chip giant said the move would result in $5.5 billion in charges. A similar filing from AMD said the company expects to incur costs up to $800 million from the new export controls, prompting shares to dive 6%.
Meanwhile, tariffs on key imports remain up in the air. Exemptions from auto duties are reportedly under consideration, while the ultimate fate of recently paused tariffs on consumer electronics is unknown. At the same time, the Trump administration is setting the stage for new levies on pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports, as well as critical minerals.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
The future of tariffs affecting US trading partners is similarly murky. The president has touted ongoing negotiations with countries, other than China, since instituting a 90-day pause on most “reciprocal” tariffs last week.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett said he expects to see “substantial clarity” on tariffs with major US trading partners, excluding China, over the next 90 days. For its part, China said Wednesday it is open to US talks, but only under certain conditions.
On Wednesday, Census Bureau data showed retail sales rose more 1.4% in March, matching forecasts and serving as the best reading in over two years in the latest sign of the US economy’s resilience before this month’s sweeping reciprocal tariff announcements.
In commodities, gold (GC=F) reached a new record as the escalating trade war between the US and China pushes investors towards safe havens. Bullion pushed past $3,300 an ounce for the first time late Tuesday.
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