[Good Morning Stock Market] "US Tariff Whims and Employment Data Awaited, Burden on Korean Stock Market"

As uncertainty grows due to the erratic tariff policies of the Trump administration in the United States, the New York stock market closed lower across the board, and the Korean stock market is also expected to show a pause in movement on the 7th. The upcoming release of the U.S. nonfarm payroll data is also expected to weigh on investors.

On the 6th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average, centered on blue-chip stocks, closed at 42,579.08, down 427.51 points (0.99%) from the previous trading day in the New York stock market. The S&P 500 index, focused on large-cap stocks, closed down 104.11 points (1.78%) at 5,738.52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index plunged 483.48 points (2.61%) to close at 18,069.26, falling 10% from its recent peak.

A trader is working at the New York Stock Exchange in the United States. Photo by Getty Images Yonhap News.

By individual stocks, U.S. automakers General Motors (GM) fell 2.64%, and Ford dropped 0.41%. Among big tech companies, AI leader Nvidia plunged 5.74%, dragging down the index. AI semiconductor company Marvell Technology Group slid 19.81% after revealing lower-than-expected AI-related sales in its earnings report the day before. Broadcom reported strong earnings driven by increased demand for AI chips and rose nearly 16% after market close.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the same day exempting tariffs on all goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) imported from Mexico and Canada until July 2. This came just two days after the 25% tariffs, which had been postponed for a month for the two countries on the 4th, took effect. He had announced a one-month exemption on tariffs for Mexican and Canadian automobiles the day before, but expanded the exemption to most items again after just one day.

Seonghun Lee, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Investors tired of the volatile tariff market appear to have preemptively adjusted their positions ahead of the 'big event' nonfarm payroll report." He added, "Along with this, ongoing concerns about a slowdown in U.S. employment and the economy have deepened the weakness in the U.S. stock market." Jung-hoon Seo, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "The market is showing increased caution toward the U.S. government's repeatedly inconsistent trade policies."

The Korean stock market is also expected to undergo a correction. Researcher Lee said, "The Korean stock market is likely to show a pause due to the sharp decline in the U.S. tech-heavy stock market the previous day and caution ahead of the nonfarm payroll report." He added, "However, Broadcom's strong earnings will act as a partial buffer for investment sentiment in semiconductor stocks."

Ji-won Kim, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "The issue of corporate layoffs highlighted ahead of the U.S. employment report release tonight is also a burden on the stock market," adding, "We need to calmly respond while reviewing sector-specific issues."