US stocks pare declines after Trump hints at flexibility in tariffs; FedEx falls on bleak forecast

Wall Street’s main stock indexes pared declines on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said that there would be flexibility on tariffs, ahead of the reciprocal duties he is likely to impose early next month.

At 12:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 98.53 points, or 0.23%, to 41,854.79, the S&P 500 lost 17.60 points, or 0.31%, to 5,645.29 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 16.09 points, or 0.09%, to 17,675.54.

Lingering fears of a prolonged global trade war, threatening to unravel economic stability and squeeze corporate profits, have cast a shadow over markets.

Markets now await President Donald Trump’s plans on reciprocal and sectoral tariffs that are expected to take effect in early April.

“We really don’t know what the wild card is coming out of Washington, and this goes for the Fed as well,” said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc.

Friday’s session also marks the simultaneous expiry of quarterly derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures, also known as “triple witching”, which added to market volatility.On a weekly scale, the benchmark S&P 500 index is on track to mark its fifth-straight week in the red – its longest weekly losing streak since May 2022.The tech-heavy Nasdaq is on track to record its longest weekly losing streak in nearly three years, while the blue-chip Dow is positioned for marginal gains.

Earlier in the week, investors took some comfort from comments of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said that the overall economy was on solid footing, but warned of a cloudy outlook on the impact from Trump’s policies.

Traders are pricing in approximately 70 basis points of rate cuts from the Fed this year, according to data compiled by LSEG. Nike slid 8.4% after the sports apparel maker projected a sharper decline in fourth-quarter revenue than analysts had anticipated.

Micron Technology fell 7.3% as the chip maker forecast third-quarter gross margin below estimates.

Lennar slid 6.6% after the homebuilder reported a lower first-quarter profit.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 4.22-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and 16 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 14 new highs and 116 new lows.