Volatility reigns on Wall Street as Trump's tariffs take effect

President Donald Trump’s tariffs wreaked havoc on global markets Wednesday, causing U.S. government borrowing costs to surge while stocks saw choppy trading as China ratcheted up retaliatory tariffs.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs wreaked havoc on global markets Wednesday, causing U.S. government borrowing costs to surge while stocks saw choppy trading as China ratcheted up retaliatory tariffs.
The major U.S. stock indexes swung back and forth after the opening bell, reaching positive territory as of about 10 a.m. ET.
Analysts have warned that any gains may simply be the result of thinly traded volumes as an increasing share of investors seek to wait out the volatility. Even with the slight gains, stocks remain on the edge of entering a bear market as overall declines approach 20% from highs seen earlier this year.
While investors' focus has been on the massive sell-off in stocks since Trump's shock tariffs announcement a week ago, trouble in the market for government debt raised the prospect of more serious financial instability.
As the tariffs went into place just after midnight, the yield, or interest rate, demanded by investors to lend to the U.S. government began to climb swiftly — undermining one of the White House’s key arguments for going through with the tariffs strategy.
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