Wall Street Down, Tariffs and Tesla in Focus

Monday's session on Wall Street ended with significant declines in the main indices. The focus is on further tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump and Tesla shares, which fell sharply in response to Elon Musk's announcement of plans to establish his own political party.

Dow Jones Industrial closed down 0.94 percent and reached 44,406.36 points.

At the end of the day, the S&P 500 fell by 0.79 percent and amounted to 6,229.98 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92 percent to 20,412.52 points.

The Russell 2000 mid-cap index fell 1.55 percent to 2,214.23 points.

The VIX index is up 1.77 percent to 17.79 points.

Tesla shares lost about 7 percent on Monday, reducing the company's market valuation by $68 billion.

Investors were scared by the political activity of the owner of the electric car manufacturer, Elon Musk, who announced the creation of a new political party, the "America Party," although he did not provide details about its agenda. The idea was immediately criticized as absurd by US President Donald Trump, who stated that the US has always had a two-party system.

"Tesla investors are growing tired of distractions at a time when the company needs Musk's attention the most, and all we see is a decline in the stock," said William Blair brokerage analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who lowered his rating for Tesla to "in line with market" from "above market."

Apple shares were trading slightly below par. The company filed an appeal against a €500 million fine imposed on it by the European Union for violating EU DMA rules, which cover competition in EU digital markets and are intended to prevent big techs from abusing their market power.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies continue to keep uncertainty high in markets. On Sunday evening, Trump pledged to impose an additional 10% tariff on any country that favors members of the BRICS bloc.

"Any country that sides with BRICS' anti-American policies will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this rule," he wrote on the Truth Social platform.

The US president announced that his administration will begin sending letters to foreign governments at noon Washington time on Monday informing them of the tariffs the US will impose on their exports. He also announced that he intends to sign several trade agreements, although he did not disclose details.

US President Donald Trump on Monday published letters announcing tariffs on Malaysia and Kazakhstan (25% each), South Africa (30%), Laos and Myanmar (40% each). Earlier that day, Trump sent letters to Japan and South Korea announcing tariffs of 25% on imports from those countries.

In early April, Trump presented a detailed plan to increase tariffs for most of the world's countries, but this was postponed until July 9, leaving time for negotiations. In the meantime, the Americans signed trade agreements with Great Britain and Vietnam. This deadline was postponed again - according to Sunday's declaration by Finance Minister Scott Bessent, tariffs will be increased at the beginning of August to initial levels if a given country does not have a "deal" with the US.

“Given that we have such an optimistic outlook — markets are at record highs — tariff talks are not going to be helpful,” Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management, told CNBC.

“The more we talk about tariffs, the less satisfied the market is,” he added.

On the oil market, WTI contracts for August are up 1.51 percent to USD 68.01 per barrel, and September Brent futures are up 1.93 percent to USD 69.63/b. (PAP Biznes)

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