JAKARTA – US stock markets tumbled on Wednesday (16/4), after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell revealed striking insights into the economic fallout of the ongoing trade war.

The benchmark S&P 500 index fell 2.2% following Powell’s remarks during a dialogue at the Economic Club of Chicago. During the session, Powell outlined various repercussions stemming from the trade conflict, including surging inflation and weakening job absorption.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 1.73%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 3.07%.

Among the Nasdaq 100 constituents, AMD led losses with a 7.35% drop. Nvidia also slumped 7.06%, followed by Palantir with 5.78%, Tesla with 4.94%, and Apple with a 3.89% decline.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell 4.2 basis points to 4.281%, while the US dollar index weakened by 0.8%, trading near its lowest level since 2022.

Bill Northey, Senior Investment Director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, noted that markets are once again digesting the implications of the US’s reciprocal tariffs. “Investors, businesses, and consumers are facing heightened uncertainty,” Northey told Reuters. (KR/ZH)