All NewsFebruary 19, 2025

Stock Market Today: Stocks pause record rally amid tariff concerns

U.S. stocks moved lower Wednesday, while Treasury yields and the dollar moved higher, as investors paused a record-setting rally on Wall Street amid renewed tariff and inflation concerns.

Updated at 11:27 AM EST

Shiny new Apple

Apple  (AAPL)  shares slipped lower after the tech giant debuted its lower-priced iPhone 16e, which includes its new Apple Intelligence AI technologies and in-house made A18 chips.

The new handset, which goes on general sale later this month, is priced at $599, a $200 discount to the baseline iPhone 16 model release last year, and will have a 6.1 inch OLED screen and back-facing 48-megapixel camera.

Apple share were last marked 0.11% lower in late morning trading and changing hands at $244.07 each.

Updated at 9:34 AM EST

Red open

The S&P 500 was marked 11 points lower, or 0.17%, in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq down 43 points, or 0.22%.

The Dow fell 173 points while the mid-cap Russell 2000 fell 16 points, or 0.71%.

Updated at 8:40 AM EST

Housing Stops

Housing starts slumped in January, Commerce Department data indicated, falling by a bigger-than-expected 9.8% to an annualized of 1.366 million, amid the early-year spike in mortgage rates.

Single family construction, which is key to unlocking the housing market’s malaise, fell 8% to a run-rate of 9333,000 units. Permits for new construction, a key to near-term demand, were modestly firmer than forecasts at an annualized rate of 1.483 million.

Mortgage rates rose to 7.26% last month, amid the upside move in Treasury bond yields tied to renewed tariff and inflation risks. The Mortgage Bankers’ Association pegged 30-year fixed rates at 6.93% last week. 

Stock Market Today

Stocks posted meager gains yesterday as investors returned from the Presidents’ Day weekend, but enough to lift the S&P 500 to another record close, taking the benchmark’s 2025 gain to just over 4.2%.

Solid corporate earnings, steady Treasury yields and underlying economic growth north of 2% have combined to keep Wall Street’s bullish momentum on track, even with the so-called Magnificent 7 tech stocks lagging their smaller peers over the first six weeks of the year.

President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, however, remain a lingering risk for the market following comments from his Mar-a-Lago estate last night, which suggested a levy of “25% or higher” on autos, semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports, were a reminder that his April 2 deadline for reciprocal duties on U.S. trade partners is fast-approaching.

President Donald Trump has said he’ll apply tariffs of “25% or higher” on key sector imports in early April. 

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Treasury yields jumped in the wake of his remarks, with benchmark 10-year notes rising 5 basis points to 4.566% in overnight trading. Two-year notes edged higher to 4.302%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.11% higher at 107.177 heading into the New York trading session, following some hawkish comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly on Tuesday.

Related: Analyst reworks Intel stock price target amid new spinoff reports

Wall Street is looking at a relatively muted session, in terms of headline risks, with January housing starts data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time and minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting slated for release at 2 p.m. Eastern time. 

Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest a modest 9-point decline at the start of trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced for a 62-point dip.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 27 points lower with Nvidia  (NVDA) , Tesla  (TSLA)  and Intel  (INTC)  active in premarket trading. 

More Wall Street Analysis:

In overseas markets, Europe’s Stoxx 600 edged 0.04% lower in mid-day Frankfurt trading, while a faster-than-expected January inflation reading of 3% in Britain tested Bank of England rate cut bets and pushed the FTSE 100 0.24% lower in London. 

Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.27%, with auto stocks pacing the decline in the wake of Trump’s tariff remarks. The regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark edged 0.11% lower into the close of trading.

Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025