U.S. stocks cratered on Thursday after President Donald Trump unveiled reciprocal tariffs against more than 180 countries.
On April 5, the White House plans to impose a 10% tariff on all countries. It also plans to impose higher individualized reciprocal tariffs on the countries with which the United States has the largest trade deficits starting April 9.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 1,600 points, or 3.9%, following the news and closed at $40,545.93 – its worst session since June 2020. The Nasdaq fell over 1,000 points, or 5.9%, to 16,550.61 – its biggest decline since March 2020. The S&P 500 dropped over 200 points, or 4.8%, reentering correction territory for its biggest one-day loss since 2020.
In a clip posted to Truth Social on Thursday, President Trump addressed the sell-off, telling reporters that the market and the American economy is going to “boom” soon enough. He added several countries are looking to “make a deal” to alleviate the tariffs, after America’s trade partners have “taken advantage of us for many years.”
The uncertainty around tariffs comes as Hollywood is gearing up for upfront presentations with Madison Avenue in April and May.
A recent survey of 100 “advertising decision-makers” conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau in February found that 94% of respondents expressed concerned about the impact of tariffs on ad spending. Of those, 57% said they were “extremely concerned” and 37% are “somewhat concerned.” Traditional media and social advertising are expected to see the largest budget reductions, while connected TV and online video may be more resilient, per IAB.
In media stocks, Warner Bros. Discovery stock fell 13% to $9.16 per share, Disney stock fell 9.2% to $88.84 per share and Fox Corp dropped 9% to $51.83 per share. Lionsgate Entertainment shares fell 7.6% to $7.34 per share, while Lionsgate Studios fell 6.2% to $7.03 per share. Paramount tumbled 3.5% to $11.48 per share, while Comcast fell 2.4% to $35.72 per share.
In tech stocks, Amazon finished down 8.9% at $177.22 per share, Apple fell 9.2% to $203.19 per share, Meta fell 8.9% to $531.62 per share, Alphabet fell 3.9% to $152.63 per share and Netflix slid 1.9% to $917.05 per share.
