Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle on EU Tariff Threats

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Stocks opened higher Wednesday as investors looked ahead to AI bellwether Nvidia's (NVDA) after-the-close earnings report. But the main indexes turned lower in afternoon trading when President Donald Trump said he is considering implementing 25% tariffs on the European Union.

During the first cabinet meeting of his second term, Trump said the tariffs will apply to "cars and all other things." He added that "the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That's the purpose of it. And they've done a good job of it."

Trump also said that tariffs on Mexico and Canada will go into effect this Sunday, March 2.

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At the close, the Nasdaq Composite held on for a 0.3% gain to 19,075 and the S&P 500 was flat at 5,956. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, shed 0.4% to end at 43,433.

Boeing (BA) and Amgen (AMGN) were tied for the worst Dow Jones stocks today, dropping 2.9% apiece. Rounding out the bottom five were Apple (AAPL, -2.7%), Merck & Co. (MRK, -2.2%) and McDonald's (MCD, -2.1%).

SMCI avoids delisting

As for today's notable gainers, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) topped the list, soaring 12.2% after the AI server, software and infrastructure company submitted its delayed financial results to regain compliance with the Nasdaq.

"SMCI filing its financials should reduce uncertainty, and we see reasons to believe SMCI's business should expand significantly in the first half of 2026," wrote Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson in a February 12 note.

However, Bryson hesitates to forecast too aggressively because he believes "SMCI's second flirtation with questionable financials" will "continue to weigh somewhat on the company's perceived risk profile (and the multiple investors are willing to pay)."

Lowe's gains after earnings

Lowe's Companies (LOW) stock rose 1.9% after the home improvement retailer beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its fourth quarter and reported a surprise increase in comparable-store sales. LOW also gave a positive full-year revenue forecast.

"I think the market underestimated comp sales' return to positive territory this morning, showcasing strong outperformance vs the midpoint of guidance that was underwritten by analyst expectations," says David Wagner, head of equity and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisor.

Wagner adds that everyone is trying to gauge the health of the consumer from recent retail earnings, "but everything continues to point to the consumer remaining very healthy and resilient."

GM shares rise on dividend hike, stock buybacks

General Motors (GM) shares jumped 3.8% after the automaker announced a 25% increase to its quarterly dividend and a new $6 billion stock buyback program.

"The GM team's execution continues to be strong across all three pillars of our capital allocation strategy, which are to reinvest in the business for profitable growth, maintain a strong investment grade balance sheet, and return capital to our shareholders," said CEO Mary Barra in a statement.

And Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson noted that the company is "confident" in its business plan and "will be agile" if it needs "to respond to changes in public policy."

Nvidia gains ahead of earnings

Nvidia gained 3.7% ahead of the chipmaker's highly anticipated fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, due out after the close. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of 85 cents per share, up 61.5% year over year, on revenue of $38.1 billion (+72.5% YoY).

Follow along with our Nvidia earnings live blog to get all the latest news from the print and the conference call.

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With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.

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