Tariff shifts have fueled sharp swings across U.S. markets

U.S. tariff policy changed more than 50 times since January 2025, according to the Tax Foundation, contributing to repeated sharp moves in stocks. The S&P 500 fell 4.8% on April 3, 2025, after new tariffs were announced, but recovered most of the loss within six trading days.

Individual companies tied to Asian supply chains saw larger swings. Nike fell 14% and Apple dropped 9% on April 3, while Apple later gained 15.3% after tariff rates were waived for 90 days. In October, roughly $2 trillion in U.S. stock-market value disappeared after threatened tariff increases on Chinese goods, before those increases were later scrapped.

The conflicting announcements and possible exemptions made it difficult for investors to determine which trade-policy statements would become lasting policy. The gap between average single-stock and index volatility reached 31% in early July 2026, according to CBOE Global Markets.

Read the full story at finance.yahoo.com.