Stock Market News for Apr 22, 2025

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Monday as President Donald Trump continued his tirade against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, raising questions in the minds of investors about the central bank’s independence and what an early departure of Powell would mean for the financial markets. All three major indexes ended in negative territory. How Did The Benchmarks Perform?The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 2.5% or 971.82 points, to finish at 38,170.41 points, recording its fourth straight day of loss.   The S&P 500 slid 2.4% or 124.50 points to close at 5,158.20 points. Tech, consumer discretionary, utilities and communication services stocks were the worst performers. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) fell 2.6%, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) declined 2.7%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) and Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) lost 2.4% and 2.3%, respectively. All 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory.The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 2.6% or 415.55 points to end at 15,870.90 points, recording its fourth straight day of loss.  The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 14.06% to 33.82. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 4.76-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 2.63-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.  A total of 13.89 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 18.87 billion.Fears of Economic Slowdown Grow after Trump Slams PowellTrump continued his tirade against Powell on Monday, further raising fears in the minds of investors. The President took to Truth Social and wrote that the U.S. economy would slow unless Powell, whom he referred to as “Mr. Too Late”, doesn’t immediately go for interest rate cuts. Trump’s comments on Monday came after he, last week, in a separate post, called for immediate rate cuts by the Federal Reserve to save the economy. He even hinted at firing Powell before the end of his term, which, according to White House economic advisor Kevis Hassett, is being looked into by the Trump administration. Trump’s post raised concerns over the autonomy of the central bank as stocks nosedived on fears that the economy could slip into a recession anytime. Fears escalated further after the U.S.-China trade conflict intensified, with Beijing cautioning other countries not to go for trade negotiations with Washington at the expense of China. Tech stocks led Monday’s selloff, with shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) declining 4.5%, while Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) lost 5.8%. shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) fell 3.1%. NVIDIA has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Investors are also clueless about whether any steps are being taken by the White House to make trade negotiations. The first-quarter earnings season is expected to gather pace this week with some of the big names scheduled to report quarterly results. No major economic data was released on Monday. 5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks