The New York stock market started off steady, watching the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's second tariff imposition. In particular, attention is focused on the remarks of Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed), who will speak before Congress that day.
As of 10:30 a.m. on the 11th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded 44,404.04, down 66.37 points (0.15%) from the previous trading day on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The benchmark Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index was down 7.08 points (0.12%) at 6,059.36, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell 13.39 points (0.07%) to 19,700.88.
The three major indices all closed higher the previous day. With President Trump's 'round two' tariff measures imminent, expectations that tariff policies would ultimately protect U.S. industries stimulated investor sentiment.
However, uncertainties overwhelmed the market just a day later. On the 1st, President Trump declared a 'war on drugs' and, just ten days after launching the first round of tariffs against related countries, signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum products the day before.
Chair Powell will report on semi-annual monetary policy before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee over the next two days.
During the Senate Banking Committee meeting that day, Powell noted, "The U.S. monetary policy is considerably less restrictive than before, and the economy is still strong, but inflation remains above the Fed's target. If the labor market weakens or inflation falls more than expected, we could ease monetary policy, but for now, there is no need to rush policy adjustments."
According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group's FedWatch tool, as of one hour after the opening, the probability that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged at the March monetary policy meeting stood at 95.5%, reflecting an increase of 3.5 percentage points from the previous day.
On that day, shares of U.S. steel and aluminum corporations showed mixed results. Cleveland-Cliffs shares fell about 2% after surging 17.39% the previous day. U.S. Steel, New Core, and Steel Dynamics rose by about 1%. Shares of POSCO listed on the U.S. stock market were down around 1%.
Coca-Cola, the world's largest food and beverage corporation, announced strong earnings, expanding sales and maintaining profitability despite ongoing price increases, resulting in a jump of more than 3% in its stock price. Meanwhile, AI server manufacturer Super Micro Computer saw its shares fall by about 4% ahead of earnings announcements scheduled for after the market close that day.
Market participants are waiting for the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) to be announced on the 12th and the Producer Price Index (PPI) to be released on the 13th.