American companies listed on the stock exchange have already lost US$9.8 trillion in market value since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20. The data comes from Einar Rivero, CEO and founding partner of Elos Ayta Consultoria. In the last two trading sessions alone, which followed the announcement of the Republican's tariff package, losses totaled US$6.08 trillion.
The Magnificent Seven, technology giants from the United States, have already seen their market value reduce by US$ 4.26 trillion since the beginning of the new government. Together, Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META) and Tesla (TSLA) lost US$ 802 billion in market value on Friday, a smaller decline than that recorded the previous day, when the fall was US$ 1.03 trillion.
Among the biggest losers, Nvidia lost $183 billion in today's trading session, bringing its total loss to $1.07 trillion since January. Apple and Microsoft have also recorded significant losses, of $625 billion and $515 billion, respectively, since the start of the Trump administration.
What caused the American stock markets to plummet today?
The New York Stock Exchanges suffered a new fall. The Dow Jones fell 5.50%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 5.97% and 5.82%. The indexes deepened their losses during the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who signaled expectations of high inflation in the short term due to the tariffs announced by Trump. Powell stated that “it is unclear what the correct path for monetary policy is” and reiterated that the Fed has time and “does not need to rush” before deciding on new interest rate cuts.
The downward movement also occurred after China, one of the main targets of Trump's tariff hike, announced retaliation against American imports. The Asian country will apply a 34% tariff on all products imported from the United States starting on the 10th. In addition, China's Ministry of Commerce said it had added 11 American companies to its list of"unreliable entities."
On a busy Friday, investors also monitored the U.S. payrolls report. The U.S. economy created 228,000 net jobs in March, according to a report published by the country's Department of Labor. Analysts consulted by Broadcast Projections expected the creation of 90,000 to 180,000 jobs, with a median of 140,000.
The positive data, however, were not enough to dispel the risk sentiment in the markets. “The intensification of the trade war, especially if other countries join China in retaliation, increases the probability of a sharp drop in international trade and increases the chance of a global recession. The movements in the markets suggest that this is what is being priced in at the moment,” says André Valério, senior economist at Inter.
He also points out that this was the last payroll before the tariffs, and that the next reports should start to incorporate the impacts of Donald Trump's measures."There is still uncertainty about the impact on the price level in the short term," he points out.
