Pres. Trump Confident US Markets Will Boom

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, April 3 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump said he is confident that the markets are going to boom and "the stock is going to boom."
"The country is going to boom - and the rest of the world wants to see is there any way they can make a deal. I think it's going to be unbelievable," he told reporters on Thursday before heading to Florida on Air Force One.
He made the comments shortly after Wall Street Journal reported that the US markets slid today "in their steepest decline in more than two years," as investors grappled with the threat that President Trump's new tariff plan will trigger global retaliation and hurt economic growth.
Major stock indexes dropped as much as 5.6 percent. Stocks have lost roughly USD 2.7 trillion in market value Thursday, on track for their largest decline since March 2020
The Dow industrials dropped about 1500 points, or 3.7 percent, according to the report.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, which powered the market higher for years, was down 5.6 percent, led by big declines in Nvidia, Apple and Amazon.
The dollar slipped to its lowest level of the year, a sign of unease over the growth outlook and fears that the flow of international funds into the country will be sharply curtailed. Inflation expectations rose.
Some of America's allies came out swinging.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe is weighing retaliation against US tech firms, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country will match President Trump's auto tariffs with 25 percent tariffs of its own.
Dozens of household-name stocks posted double-digit declines, including HP, Nike and Target. Stellantis also fell sharply. The Jeep maker said it is temporarily halting production at its auto assembly factories in Mexico and Canada.
The turmoil has spread, with oil prices dropping more than six percent and investors selling gold after its sharp run over the past year to fresh records.
But so far, traders said, selling has been orderly and though the scale of US tariffs came as a shock, few investors are surprised to see stocks pull back following their gains over the past two years.
President Trump took the selloff in stride. "I think it's going very well," Trump said in response to a question about his tariffs Thursday afternoon.
Still, the decline sets up financial markets for one of their most precarious periods in recent years. But the tariffs and the international reaction will test that faith.
US stock markets dropped sharply. The S and P 500 slid 4.6 percent, poised for its largest percentage decline since September 2022.
The US dollar sank more than two percent against the euro, Japanese yen and Swiss franc.
Oil and gold both fell and investors dashed for the safety of Treasurys, a response to fears that the tariffs will tip the economy toward recession.
All US imports will be subject to a 10 percent tariff, effective April 5.
Trump will impose even higher rates on some nations that the White House considers bad actors on trade. For example, Japan faces a 24 percent duty and the European Union faces a 20 percent levy, effective April 9.
China will be hit with a new 34 percent tariff, adding to previous duties, like the 20% tariff Trump imposed over fentanyl.
That means the base tariff rate on Chinese imports will be 54 percent, before adding pre-existing levies.
The tariffs are pegged to amounts Trump says other countries impose on the US. Here's the math behind the levies.
Some global leaders are vowing to retaliate, while others are hopeful there is still time to strike a deal with the US.
Canada and Mexico are excluded from the reciprocal tariff regime.
They are still subject to plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on most imports to the US, though the administration has given an exemption for autos and many other goods. (end)
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