New York Stocks Mixed on Trump Tariff Threats... Nvidia Down 0.19%

Trump Announces 50% Copper Tariff Starting Next Month
50% Tariff Bomb on Brazil with Overt Interference in Domestic Affairs
Nvidia Falls After Surpassing $4 Trillion Market Cap Intraday

The three major indices of the New York Stock Exchange opened mixed in early trading on July 10 (local time), hovering around the flatline. After Nvidia surpassed a $4 trillion market capitalization the previous day, fueling expectations for artificial intelligence (AI) and sending U.S. stocks broadly higher, the market is now showing signs of a pause. Investor sentiment is also being pressured by tariff threats from President Donald Trump.

Reuters Yonhap News

As of 10:57 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) was up 188.54 points (0.42%) at 44,646.84. The large-cap S&P 500 index rose 6.58 points (0.11%) to 6,269.84, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index was down 47.66 points (0.23%) at 20,563.68.

The previous day, the market closed broadly higher, led by a strong rally in tech stocks driven by Nvidia. AI bellwether Nvidia surged about 2% during the session, surpassing a $4 trillion market cap for the first time ever and sparking a rally in technology shares. Nvidia is the first publicly traded company in the world to surpass a $4 trillion market capitalization.

As the market pauses after the previous day’s gains, investors are closely watching President Trump’s tariff threats. The previous day, President Trump announced that the 50% itemized tariff on copper imports to the U.S. would take effect on August 1. He also sent letters to eight countries, including Brazil, outlining reciprocal tariff rates. Among these, Brazil was notified of a 50% tariff rate, a sharp increase from 10% in early April. In a letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Trump referred to former President Jair Bolsonaro as “a leader respected around the world” and described the trial against him as a “witch hunt that must be stopped immediately.” This amounts to overt interference in domestic affairs using tariffs as leverage. With this, the number of trading partners to which President Trump has sent tariff letters has increased to 22 countries, including South Korea.

Jeremy Siegel, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said, “AI could precisely offset the inflationary impact of tariffs,” and predicted, “If the negative effects are not significant, this bull market could continue.” He added, “However, if there are insurmountable obstacles, volatility could increase this quarter.”

Employment data released in the morning showed unexpected strength. According to the Department of Labor, new U.S. jobless claims for the week of June 29 to July 5 totaled 227,000, down 5,000 from the previous week. This figure was 9,000 below economists’ expectations of 236,000. Continuing jobless claims, which count those receiving unemployment benefits for more than two weeks, reached 1,965,000 for the week of June 22 to 28. This was an increase of 10,000 from the previous week (1,955,000), but 15,000 below the market forecast of 1,980,000. Despite concerns about an economic slowdown due to tariff policies, the labor market remains more resilient than expected.

U.S. Treasury yields are holding firm. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, a global bond market benchmark, was up 2 basis points (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) from the previous day at 4.36%. The 2-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to monetary policy, rose 1 basis point from the previous day to 3.88%.

By stock, Nvidia, which the previous day became the world’s first publicly traded company to surpass a $4 trillion market cap during intraday trading, is down 0.19%. Delta Air Lines is soaring 13.2% after reporting second-quarter results that exceeded expectations. Tesla is up 3.18%.