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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday
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The S&P 500 fell 1.6% on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, as investors braced for new tariffs to take effect.
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Albemarle shares tumbled after UBS cut its price target on the lithium producer’s stock.
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Shares of health insurers moved higher after the U.S. government announced Medicare payments would rise more than previously forecast.
Major U.S. equities indexes fell Tuesday, reversing earlier gains as investors braced for new tariffs to take effect.
After opening the session solidly in positive territory, the S&P 500 dropped later in the session to close 1.6% lower. The Dow slipped 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2.2%.
Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world’s largest lithium producer, suffered the steepest daily decline of any S&P 500 stock, plunging 12.6%. Tuesday’s tumble came after analysts at UBS slashed their price target on the stock, suggesting elevated costs and potentially soft demand could hold back Albemarle’s earnings.
Solar technology firm Enphase Energy (ENPH) saw its shares plunge 11.2% amid pressure on the broader renewable energy sector as concerns about trade and global economic growth cloud the outlook for solar and other energy technologies.
Shares of intelligent power and sensor chipmaker Onsemi (ON) fell 8.9%. The move lower followed a price target cut by analysts at KeyBanc, who pointed to softness in Onsemi’s automotive end markets. The KeyBanc team pointed to a deterioration in demand from Tesla (TSLA), along with inventory reductions by other carmakers in the U.S. and Europe.
Health insurance stocks received a boost after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced government payments to Medicare insurers would rise more than previously expected. Humana (HUM) shares surged 10.7%, logging the top performance in the S&P 500. Shares of Aetna operator CVS Health (CVS) gained 5.9%, with the pharmacy giant also brightening its full-year outlook and naming a new CFO.
Shares of defense contractors also pushed higher after the White House pledged to spend approximately $1 trillion on defense in fiscal 2026. Shares of aerospace and defense firms Lockheed Martin (LMT), General Dynamics (GD), and RTX (RTX) all posted gains of more than 2%.
Constellation Energy (CEG) shares advanced 2.9% on Tuesday, clawing back a portion of their losses over the past week. Along with other nuclear generators, the company has drawn attention for its opportunity to power artificial intelligence data centers. Last year, Constellation signed an agreement to provide electricity to a Microsoft (MSFT) data center by restoring a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear facility.
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