Topline
The Wall Street ride has been bumpy since President Donald Trump’s announcement last week he planned to impose the most severe tariffs in more than a century, and a majority of stocks remain in the red even after Trump’s subsequent pause on many of his most severe levies — aside from a handful of stocks uniquely poised for stability during these times of heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
It’s been a stock market rollercoaster since “Liberation Day.”
Key Facts
Since Trump’s April 2’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, the stock market has been open seven days, a brief period that included the S&P 500 benchmark stock index’s biggest daily percentage gain since 2008 and steepest daily percentage loss since 2020.
The turbulence netted a more than 5% loss for the S&P from April 2 through Friday, a stretch of seven trading sessions.
Some 90%, or 450, of the 500 stocks listed on the S&P have declined during that period, according to FactSet data, as the prospect of a recession and international business dealing questions serve as a headwind for most companies.
Dominating the top of the list of the 50 above-water stocks since “Liberation Day” were healthcare stocks, as the nation’s biggest health insurer UnitedHealth Group was the top gainer with a 15% rally, boosted by the government’s much larger than anticipated approved increase in Medicare Advantage plans next year, joined in the green by shares of competitors Elevance Health, the parent of Anthem whose stock is up 3% since April 2, and CVS Health, the parent of Aetna whose stock is up 2%.
Among the three dozen non-healthcare stocks in the green, there was a clear pattern of companies which could at least tread water in a potential recession and/or foreign policy shakiness as the U.S. locks horns with China and elsewhere on trade.
Stocks up since “Liberation Day” include those of bargain-focused retailers Ross Stores (up 8%), TJ Maxx parent TJX (3%) and Walmart (4%), while defense contractors General Dynamics (1%), Huntington Ingalls (6%), Lockheed Martin (5%), L3 Harris (5%), Northrop Grumman (5%) and Palantir (1%) all increased.
These Stocks Were Hurt The Most By Tariff Selloff
Stocks across almost every sector have slumped, but the five worst-performing stocks on the S&P since April 2 are pharmaceutical developer Charles River Laboratories (down 34%), CNN and HBO parent Warner Bros. Discovery (-24%) and oil and gas drillers APA Corporation (-29%), Devon Energy (-25%) and Occidental Petroleum (-24%). Among the 90 American companies valued at $100 billion or above, the worst performers are energy giants Chevron (-18%) and ConocoPhillips (-19%), semiconductor chip maker Texas Instruments (-17%) and drugmakers AbbVie (-15%) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (-14%) and Bank of America (-15%).
Surprising Fact
The S&P has moved by at least 1.5% in six of the seven trading days after the White House revealed its proposed country-by-country tariff rates, including a 1.8% gain Friday. That had only happened in less than a fifth of 2025’s 63 trading sessions before volatility spiked following “Liberation Day.”
Apple And Tesla Lead Magnificent Seven Woes
It’s been largely a down stretch for shares of the “magnificent seven” big tech stocks, the U.S.’ six most valuable firms plus Tesla. All but Microsoft (up 2%) are down since April 2, led by Apple and Tesla’s 12% losses. Tech stocks are historically vulnerable to higher than average losses during times of economic queasiness, but Apple and Tesla are particularly impacted by the tariff drawdown for their outsized reliance on revenue from China.
Crucial Quote
“Markets are still searching for footing amid unresolved trade tensions, earnings uncertainty, and macroeconomic headwinds,” Mark Hackett, Nationwide’s chief market strategist, explained about heightened volatility. Hackett noted the 5% average intraday moves for the S&P so far this month would place April among the four most volatile months of the last 46 years.
Further Reading
