BSS
  08 Aug 2025, 12:18

Nasdaq ends at record, Dow falls as tariff hikes take effect

NEW YORK, Aug 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The Dow fell while the Nasdaq finished at a fresh record Thursday as markets grappled with worries over lofty equity valuations in light of President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies.

The mixed session reflected lingering unease as new US tariff increases took effect.

"This tariff issue is still an overhang for the market as it kind of contemplates what that might mean in terms of inflation, what it might mean in terms of earnings," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"There's concerns about the market acting a little bit too complacent around these tariffs."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.5 percent at 43,968.64.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 percent to 6,340.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 21,242.70, a new all-time high.

Under a previously announced White House policy, import duties rose from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for a list of trading partners.

Stocks have risen much of the summer as investors have been embracing a view that the US economy remains on solid footing and that the impact of higher levies has not been as bad as feared.

But some market watchers expect a pullback in light of valuations that are priced for meaningful earnings growth.

Among individual companies, Intel dropped 3.1 percent as Trump called on the chipmaker's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, to resign after a Republican senator raised national security concerns over his links to firms in China.

Eli Lilly plunged 14.2 percent despite reporting a near-doubling of profits on higher revenues.

The drugmaker also released results of clinical testing of a weight loss pill that looked positive "on the surface" but indicated less impact than candidates by other companies, said Briefing.com.

Airbnb dropped 8.0 percent on disappointment over the company's outlook. The vacation rental company described demand as encouraging, but warned of weak growth figures later in the year.