Before the ‘Good Friday’ holiday, the New York market maintained a quiet atmosphere. Although U.S. President Donald Trump put pressure on Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), the stock market was not significantly affected.
On the 17th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down by 527.16 points (1.33%) at 39,142.23 on the New York Stock Exchange. The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index rose by 7.00 points (0.13%) to 5,282.70, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell by 20.71 points (0.13%) to 16,286.45.
The White House and President Trump did not announce any new details regarding tariff policy on this day, but noted that there was progress in negotiations with Japan and Mexico.
President Trump said on his social media (SNS) platform Truth Social, "I had a very productive phone call yesterday with Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico," adding, "I also met with representatives from Japan. It was a very productive meeting."
On the other hand, Trump continued to issue threats regarding Powell. He said during a meeting with reporters, "If I ask him to, Powell will leave immediately," adding, "I don't like him."
However, such news did not lead to major turbulence in the market, and issues related to individual corporations were more highlighted than those coming from the White House.
UnitedHealth Group, the largest private health insurance corporations in the United States, saw its stock plunge by over 22% as its first-quarter results fell short of market expectations.
The significant decline was primarily due to UnitedHealth lowering its annual earnings guidance drastically. The company explained that increased medical service utilization in its Medicare Advantage institutional sector led to higher medical expenses.
As UnitedHealth's stock plummeted, the Dow also dropped significantly. This is because UnitedHealth is the eighth-largest corporations by market capitalization within the Dow.
The impact of NVIDIA's H20 chip becoming a target of public export restrictions continued on this day. NVIDIA's stock fell by 3%, marking the largest decline among the 'Magnificent Seven' tech giants.
Alphabet's stock dipped by about 1% after a U.S. federal court ruled that its subsidiary Google illegally monopolized online advertising technology.
Netflix announced that its first-quarter sales and net profits exceeded market expectations after the market closed, and its stock jumped over 4% in after-hours transactions.
By sector, all sectors rose except for healthcare, technology, and communication services. Consumer staples and energy sectors increased by more than 2%, while real estate and utilities showed rises in the 1% range.
Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, noted, "The market is in a stage of waiting and searching for direction," adding, "Right now, it’s more important to watch how the tariff agreement will turn out."